Speedster Love
by moonlightjasmine
Summary: What if Wally had a childhood friend who was on the team? Meet Aria, she has known Wally for nearly ten years before he became part of the team. With a childhood friend like her, will Wally fall for Artemis or Aria?
1. Chapter 1 New Begining

I **do ****not** own Young Justice.

Chapter 1: A new beginning?

"What`s the city called again Daddy?" a little girl of six asked from the back seat of the van. She sat in the middle row between a black haired blue eyed and a red haired, brown eyed boy. Two taller boys sat in the row behind, both of them with flaming red hair, one with azure blue eyes and the other with ebony black pools. In the front were her Mommy and Daddy. Mommy was from an island far away called Nippon, or Japan as others called it. Her Daddy came from another island he says it`s an emerald island or Ireland, pixies and faeries roam. He promised they would visit there this year.

Her Daddy laughed.  
"Aye, it is called Central City lassie." The girl giggled. Her Daddy talked funny. They used to live in a really big city, but mommy thought it was time to change and Daddy had wanted to branch out in his wood working business, so they packed up and left.

"Is the house we are going to live in going to be big?" the tallest boy from the back row asked.

The mother chuckled, her sons were spiting images of their fathers, personality and looks for most.

"Yes, there is a room for me and Daddy." She said as her husband sent her a smirk, the same one she fell in love with.

"One for Collin and Brandon." the boys in the back seat high fived each other.

"One for Jimmy and Duncan." The two in the middle grinned at each other over their sisters' head.

"And one for our little song bird." She said turning to face the children, and winking at her only daughter, the 5th child, it was obvious she was babied for being the youngest.

Duncan ruffled his baby sisters' hair.

"Ya lucky squirt. You get you own room!"

"Hey!" she said squirming in her seat and trying to slap his hand away.

"Stop that!" she squeaked out laughing as he started to tickle her. Duncan grinned, he liked teasing his only younger sister.

"Never!" He shouted, a victorious smirk on his face almost mirroring the one their father had. He suddenly felt a hand deliver a sharp smack to the back of his head. Stopping what he was doing, he turned around and saw Collin, his oldest brother.

"What was that for?" he asked, mock rubbing his head, as if in pain.

"You needed to stop." He said, but before Duncan could comment, their dad spoke.

"Quiet down wee ones, we`re here." He said as the car slowly skidded to a stop. The kids waited for no one. As soon as the car had stilled, they slammed the doors open and ran out as a pack of wild dogs who had found meat and were racing to get to it first. Last one to climb out of the car was little Aria. Her hair swayed in her high ebony pigtails as she followed.

"Wait for me! I have tiny feet, I can`t run so fast." She said, running after her brothers.

Momoko smiled at the kids from her seat in the van. They were a rowdy bunch. Turning to her husband, she asked as she exited the car:

"How did we end up with five children?"Shamus barked out a laugh and threw his arm across his wife's shoulder once he got out of the car as well.

"Ye wanted a girl." He said kissing her temple as he pulled her close. She looked up to arch an eyebrow at him.

"Really Mister I won`t rest in peace, until I have a son and daughter.'" He was decent enough to have a sheepish expression on his face.

"Mommy? Daddy?" the married couple looked down to see their only daughter looking up ate them.

"Yes sweetie?" Momoko asked her daughter once she bent down so her child's face was at the same level as hers.

"Can we go pick our rooms?" Aria asked, giving the puppy dog eyes, fluttering her eyelashes for better effect.

Shamus laughed, he bent down and picked up his daughter, placing her on his shoulder. His wife stood up with him.

"She got that from you." He said pecking his wife on the lips.

"Who else?" Momoko asked as she followed with a smile on her face.

The boys were quick to find and claim their rooms. Duncan and Jimmy chose the one closest to the tree in the back yard. Collin and Brendon got the room next to them. And Aria got a room overlooking the house across the street. She looked out from the window and saw what looked to be a kid's bed room. It`s walls were covered in posters of rockets and superheroes, and it was very very messy. She was about to look away when a head with a mop of spiky red hair, redder than her Daddies' appeared.

A boy, her age was in front of the window, his emerald green eyes wide. Hers mirrored him until he smiled a bright toothy grin and waved at the. A smile broke out on her face and she waved back at him. After they had waved at each other she heard her mother call her down, the movers were here to bring in the furniture.

She rushed down and in the next several hours the family of seven were busy unloading, carrying and unpacking items from the vans. The kids got to carry some of the lighter boxes. Due to the big number of hand working they finished just as the sun was setting. With the house fully furnished, the boxes thrown out and the family was getting some dinner before heading to bed.

Aria was nodding off. Shamus chuckled and picked up his faye princess.

"I`ll go tuck`er in. Be back in a bit." He said giving a smile to his darling wife. Carefully as to not awaken the slumbering child in his arms he treaded up the stairs and down the hallway with great caution in his step.

Opening the door to her room he couldn't help but chuckle, she was his daughter all right. Her room was of warring shades of white, green, blue and silver, not a single shade of pink in it.

He quietly placed his little son bird in her bed, tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead before getting up and going to the door, leaving the slumbering child with wishes of sweet dreams.

And she did have sweet dreams, she dreamt of that boy she saw in the window that day. They were playing on a swing set. He was swinging next to her and they were laughing as the swing faster and faster until they were sent flying in the air.

They were soaring through the clouds, the boy looping in the air like she saw one doing in a cartoon she saw, it`s name was Peter Pan, she used to watch it with her brothers. She was brought out of her thoughts by the boy who had thrust a hand for her to take him by.

As she did so he swung sideways and they ended up pirouetting upwards like a chill in a cloud and leaving a little double spiral of cloud dust. They flew together holding hands and swirled, dived and twirled in the air as they had their dance. No word spoke, yet so much understood. Soon after, the dance ended they still did not speak. Aria noticed something she hadn`t before when she saw him through the window. He had freckles on his cheeks.

Just as she was about to reach her hand out to brush his cheek when they suddenly started falling down. As the wind whipped her black locks around, she looked to her right where the boy was falling as well; she slowly reached and grabbed his hand. The boy turned to look at her and she gave him a small smile, more to comfort him. He smiled back and their grip became tighter when they saw the ground. Just as they hit the ground Aria jerked awake in her bed. She looked around and saw she was in her room tucked into bed. Her stomach growled as the scent of breakfast filled her nose.

Running down so she could actually get breakfast before her brothers gobbled it all up she came in the kitchen, to discover that she was the first one there.

"Good morning sweet heart, get a plate for yourself." Her mother said as she was making breakfast. American style this time it seemed. Aria got her plate and passed it to her mother who filled it with two fried eggs, lots of bacon and a piece of toast in the shape of a triangle. Aria took her breakfast to the table and set it down. Her mother entered shortly after with a glass of milk and a few other plates for the boys.

Aria was digging in her breakfast when her brothers entered the room. Collin was the first to enter followed by Duncan, Jimmy &amp; Brandon. Duncan greeted her by ruffling her hair; Aria was too immersed in her breakfast to stop it so she settled for a grunt of acknowledgement. The boys dug in as soon as food was on their plates.

"Where`s Dad?" Duncan asked as he was filling up his plate with seconds.

"In the backyard, building a shed. For his tools." Their mother calmly said continuing to sip her tea.

Aria understood what she meant her Daddy was good carpenter. Almost all of their furniture in their home was either made by him or improved. Mommy told her that Daddy had made the crib that her hand her brothers slept in was made by him when Collin was born. The only thing he had changed was the head board that had their names engraved on it. Now they were used as plaques for their rooms.

He also made the twin miniature figurines of a boy and girl dancing. The funny thing was if you placed them apart, they looked unremarkable. But if you placed them close against each other it was clear that they were dancing. It was like a pair who was frozen in time, so much detail. The girl in the picture looked like her mother if only a few slight differences. Her hair had a slight red hue and her eyes were crystalline silver.

But the boy on the other hand was not even colored, he even wasn't specific on anything, not his hair or clothes were colored, they were just blank. The only remembering feature on it was the adoring expression it had. The same one her Dad looked at her mother with when they think her and her brothers aren't looking.

She once asked her Daddy why the boy had no color, he had simply told her that when she is older she will paint it however she wishes. He had a strange expression on his face when he said that so she left it alone, not wanting to disturb him.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Now who could that be?" Momoko said as she placed her tea cup down.

By now all the boy were done eating and they had left to go help their father and Aria was in the living room looking at the music box they had there, but she followed her mother's example and got up as well.

Momoko opened the door and there in front of her was a red haired woman holding a tray of cookies and behind her legs was a little freckled child. She smiled down at him once he took notice of her he gave her a beaming smile only a six year old can give.

"Ah! It`s the boy across the street!" A shout was heard as she looked down at her feet to see her daughter pointing at the boy who was looking at her with eyes as wide as Arias were. Momoko started apologizing to the woman.

"I`m sorry for that. This is Aria, my daughter. My name is Momoko McNeil." She said bowing deeply, like it was in her culture. The woman smiled, dimples showing when she did.

"It`s a pleasure. I`m Mary West, your neighbor across the street. This is my son Wally." Momoko bent down, placing her palms on her knees so she was face to face with the Children.

"Aria why don`t you introduce Wally to your brothers? And call your father please?"Aria nodded and took Wally`s hand to lead him towards the back yard. Turning towards Mary, Momoko offered.

"Now how about a nice soothing cup of tea?" To which the red haired woman nodded in agreement.

Aria had taken Wally by the hand and had started to lead him to the backyard. There was chatter coming from the dining room where their mothers were, but other than that there was silence. They cloud hear their footsteps echo through the hall as they took step after step. There was silence until Wally broke it.

"Sooo…how old are you?" he asked Aria.

"Just turned six and you?"

"Six and a half. Had my birthday in December."

Conversation was scarce, but they had reached the backyard quickly enough, and when they did they saw an already finished too shed and her father and brothers gathered around the huge oak tree in their larger than the average backyard. A blue print was in Collins hands as he scanned the drawing of the construction with careful eyes.

"Hey Daddy!" Aria said waving as her father got up from measuring a plank on the ground. He rustled her hair but then took notice of the boy next to her, he could have been his son from his look that had similarities but if you looked closer you`d notice differences. The boy's hair was a darker shade than his and his sons and his eyes were a true deep emerald green. Green as the fields of his homeland shamus liked this kid already.

Wally on the other hand was terrified. This man in front of him was giant. He almost whimpered when the man reached a hand towards him. He squeezed his eyes shut but opened them in shock when he felt the man rustle his hair. Looking up he saw the giant man was grinning down at him.

"And who is this, little song bird?" the man asked with a funny accent.

"Daddy, this is Wally, he lives across the street. Wally this is my Dad." Aria said motioning with her hands.

"And these are my brothers. Collin, Brandon, Jimmy and Duncan. From oldest to youngest in that order." She said pointing at each brother as she introduced them.

"Daddy, Mommy told me to tell you that you need to go to the living room."

Shamus let out a laugh and entered the house, leaving the kids at the base of the tree. Aria approached her brothers with Wally following her. Aria peaked at the drawing of a housed. It was proportionate and well balanced. Collin must have drawn it.

"What are you building?" Wally asked looking over Arias shoulder. Duncan grinned at him.

"A tree house. Dad promised us we would get one when we move to this city and this guy here us perfect." He finished, patting the tree as he spoke.

The tree itself was fairly huge red oak. Its leaves were a healthy red shade. It was taller than the house. And branched out beautifully.

"But we can't decide what to put, since we want too many things." Jimmy said frowning as he looked up at the tree.

"What do you want for the tree house to have?" Wally asked. Collin started naming the features they wanted.

"Fire pit, tire swing, safety net over a section, pulley system, lookout spot, rooms for each of us, mini kitchen, living room or den, stairs, bird houses and mosquito nets. And another higher lookout for Aria with cushioned floor.

Wally took the pencil that was lying on the ground; he drew the tree around the back of the paper sheet. He drew a round room and started explaining.

"Instead of a square kind the Living room can be round up in the crown and the pi can be in the center of it. There can be windows so you have a 360 look range.

Then he drew rooms branching out yet connected to each other with bridges and railing on the inside.

"These can be rooms you sleep in, connected inside and out. Outside by bridges and inside by the railing. The platform can be on where the living room/ kitchen are and can stretch out for your pulley system and firemen pole. The stairs can wrap around the tree trunk so to save. The lookout can be accessed through stairs atop the living room and Arias looks out can be through a few other stairs and platforms." Wally finished leaving Aria and her brothers speechless.

They shared a look between themselves which Wally did not, Collin took the pencil from the young bys boys grasp.

"There is one mistake." He said as he erased a part of the drawing.

"You forgot your room. "He grinned at Wally. The young boy gave him a grin so big he couldn`t feel his cheeks.

"And I think you should add something you want." He passed the pencil to Wally.

The boy had a thinking expression on his face before it seemed to come up. He started to draw.

"A monkey zip line. From this side of the platform to there."He said.

The boys erupted at his choice and together the kids started to give suggestions where the rest of the stuff will be.

An hour later they finished, so Aria stood up and started to talk to the boys.

"Well men, our mission is done so I say we celebrate. With mochi!" she said cheering at the end. The boys erupted in agreement, except for Wally who didn't know what they meant.

"What`s mocha?" he asked, making Aria and her brothers freeze and look at him in bewilderment. Suddenly Aria snapped her fingers towards her brothers.

"Collin go get them." The eldest ran as if lives depended on him.

"Jimmy, Brandon." She simply said and both boys nodded and each stood on Wally's side. Collin was back with a big bowl and Aria reached out her hand where he passed her a round some kind of dumpling that was a pale pink color. Approaching him, she placed the dumpling in Wally`s hand and simply said.

"Try it. Then she turned around as she and her brothers grabbed on and started eating.

Wally was at a battle, his doubt of how it would taste versus his love for food. The later winning, he closed his eyes and took a big bite. His eyes widened at the explosion of flavors and he looked at the rest of the treat in his hand. He quickly gobbled up the rest and reached for a second when he was offered the bowl.

"So what do ya think?" Duncan asked licking his fingers as the last of the sweetness was on them.

"Soo good." Wally said with a full mouth, his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. Aria smirked.

"Wait until you try ramen." She said making Wally look up.

A few hours later Wally West came back home with a bowl full of mocha. His mother opened the door she smiled once she saw him with a bright grin on his face.

"How did it go honey? Did you have fun?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Great! I love playing with them." He said stuffing another mochi in his mouth. Mary chuckled.

"Well I'm glad. I heard their daughter Aria is going to the same school as you. I`m glad you got along with her."

Wally paused. He remembered that dream where they were flying.

"Yeah." He smiled." I`m glad too." He said as he ate another sweet.


	2. Chapter 2 Step it up

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

Chapter 2: Step it out

"Please?" a voice sounded down the street.

"No." another one denied.

"Please?" the first one pleaded this time louder.

"No!" the other denied, noticeably irritated.

"Please?!" the voice was almost begging.

"For the last time no!" an 8 year old Wally yelled, turning around and looking at Aria who was behind him. She ran and grabbed his legs.

"Please. I really want to go but I can't without a dance partner. Ad I don't want to dance with any of my brothers. Please I'll owe you. If you ever want me to do something for you I won't even question it. Please!" she said tears threatening to spill over the edges. The sight of them halted the boy in his retort and he looked at the ground, clenching his fists.

"Fine." He sighed. Aria looked up at him, her teary eyes disappearing and widening as the realization struck her. Suddenly she lunged at him and Wally stumbled back from the sheer force she put in it to hug him. His cheeks redden and he averted his eyes.

"Thank you, thank you, and thank you!" Aria said, her arms squeezing his middle with all her might. She heard Wally squeak out a bit breathlessly.

"C…can`t breathe." He wheezed out and immediately the grip around him loosened. Aria stepped back to let him breath, a sheepish expression on her face. Wally looked at her

"Next time you go to Ireland I go with you!" Aria was about to agree but Wally interrupted her.

"And you'll wear something green." He said making her gape.

"But the fairies will nab me!" she said in a fearful tone. Wally rolled his eyes. For an 8 year old she still believed in fairies.

"There is no such thing as f….mph!" he was silenced by her hand slapping over his mouth.

"Don't say that! Every time you say it, a fairy dies." Aria said eyes wide in desperation with tears at the edges.

"Fine. They won`t nab you cause I'll be there to protect you. Ok?" Wally said and she nodded her head. He took her by the hand and started to lead her down the street much like she did when they were six and told by their mothers to be careful when walking home.

"Good now come on. I have to tell my parents I'm going to be your ….." he gulped and spit out the nest two words.

"…dance partner."

The bright grin on her face was the only thing stopping him from throwing a hissy fit, like the 8 year old he was.

…

Mary and Rudolph West were looking at their son in bewilderment. Neither of them had expected their son to drop this on them ever, let alone in the middle of dinner. It had simply started when Mary had noticed Wally was just pushing the food around in his plate instead of digging in like he usually did. When she asked him what was bothering him, the answer shocked both her and her husband.

"You want to do what?" she asked again thinking she had she hard wrong.

"I want to go to a dance course."Wally said looking at his plate as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Why?" Rudolph simply asked.

"She didn't want to go with her brothers so she asked me." Mary arched an eyebrow at that; her son was way too stubborn to give in that easily.

"And you agreed." She stated, not asked.

"No." Wally muttered"…but "ah there it was."She said I can go with her to Ireland this summer if I did." No there was still something left.

"That`s all?" Wally flushed at being caught by his mother.

"And she owes me a favor." He mumbled and started picking at his food again. Mary smiled.

"All right, since you made a deal, you can go with Aria, but I want me, your father and your Aunt Iris to be informed of every performance show and competition. And we will be there with a camera filming everything."

Wally gulped. Was it too late to back out?

….

The pair of 8 year olds stood in a row of children of their age group. When she had been looking for a nice Dance school Aria had chosen well, a well known school that took several years to complete. Wally and Aria stood next to each other. Aria`s raven locks were tied in a pony tail that ended at her waist, she was wearing tights and a short skirt over them with a loose T-shirt.  
Wally instead wore dark blue trousers and a T-shirt that had his favorite superhero on it, The Flash. Both children were wearing special dance shoes the academy requested their students to wear.

There were no parents in the room, they were either asked to wait in the lobby or leave and pick them up when classes were over.

Suddenly the doors to the studio slammed open, making some of the children jump.

A gracefully aged older woman strutted in, shutting the door behind her. Turning towards the children she spoke.

"I am Anne Sophie Delacour, but you may and will address me as Madame, Ms or Lady Delacour." She walked along the assembled line of 8 year olds as a sergeant looking at new cadets.

"I will be your dance instructor. If you expect this class to be easy, walk out that door because I`m her t make you dancers, not slackers. I don't have to like you and you don't have to like me, but you will respect me. I expect you to take this seriously, when I say jump, you ask how high." She stopped speaking as she walked up to Wally and Aria. Looking at the girl she asked.

"Why are you here?" to which the young girl responded.

"I`m here to dance?" if a bit unsurely.

The instructor then turned her attention to Wally.

"And you?"

"I`m here because of her." He simply said motioning to Aria with a straight face. Madame continued to walk with a small smirk on her face.

"And another thing. Here your partner is your comrade, rival, everything and anything they need to be. If one fails you both fail, I one is unable to dance you both wont dance. But when you do I want you to act out the feelings the songs portrayal as you dance. If I want betrayal, you`ll look at each other as if you had done some this unforgivable to each other. If I want joy you`ll dance as if your wildest dreams had come true. Every dance is based on some kind of emotion; if you can act you can dance. Now I want you to stretch, we have two hour long lessons three times a week, and I have no tolerance against slackers. Now start."

And so hell for Wally West began.

….

A month later Wally was just entering his room, back from dancing lessons. As soon as the door was closed he flopped down on the bed, his legs felt like jello. Correction, his legs felt like jello his entire other body felt like lead.

"Why did I have to do this?" he asked himself.

"Oh yeah, because it was embarrassing for Aria to go with her brothers. Well now it`s embarrassing plus exhausting for me. I bet she is as tired as I am." he spoke, but it was muffled since his face was buried in his pillow. He sat up in his bed to look out the window and in hers. And she was there, but she was still practicing.

"Isn`t she tired?" Wally muttered to himself, but if you looked closely you could see she was exhausted as well, her legs were wobbly and she moved slower than usual, but she was practicing the routine over and over again.

Wally lowered his head, his hair casting a shadow over his eyes. Suddenly he got p from the bed, got in a dance position and started practicing the steps again with a determined glean in his twin emerald pools. He stumbled and fell but when he looked out the window he saw aria having the same problems. He chuckled at her persistence and then frowned. This was not helping; maybe he should as a pro for some advice.

…..

He stood in front of a pair of door him never though he would be on a Saturday afternoon. Taking a deep breath he pulled one of them open so he could enter, he made his way to the dance academy reception.

"Is Madam Delacour here?" he asked the young woman at the reception desk.

"Yes she should be in her office." He nodded and followed the instruction he had been given towards the office. When he finally reached the door, he gulped before knocking briefly. A few moments later he heard a familiar voice speak.

"Entre." A single word, he guessed it meant 'enter'. He opened the door facing the dance instructor. A surprised look appeared on her face before she schooled her features in a neutral mask.

"Wally a surprise to see you here. Why are you here to visit, on a Saturday no less?" she asked her French accent even more pronounced. Wally stood in front of her in a green T-shirt and black shorts with sneakers adorning his feet.

"Why are you here?" she asked once again as she placed the sheets of paper that were in her hands down on the desk, in a pile of paperwork.

"I keep stumbling when I practice the dance routine." Wally mumbled, looking at his feet.

"That is to be expected, you are merely a beginner. In time you will perfect and execute it perfectly. The steps are merely confusing you." She explained but stopped when Wally shook his head.

"It`s not that?" he spoke quietly, making Madame Delacour raise an eyebrow.

"Go on." She said crossing her palms together and leaning on them.

"The Light bothers me." Wally mumbled as he still looked at his feet, his feet very interesting at the moment. Anne Sophie's eyes widened. Could this boy…? She smiled.

"I see. I once knew a man who had the same problem. He had a method that those who had the same problem as him used. While the cases like his are rare the technique was even more so and he used to become one of the best dancers I had the pleasure dancing with." Wally`s head shot up at that.

"How?" he asked. Anne Sophie smiled at his persistence and her eyes had a nostalgic hue in them.

"It is called 'shadow dancing." When the boy wrinkled his nose she explained with a small chuckle.

"No it is not dancing in front of a canvas with a light behind you. That is simply an act to cover the true dance. It is dancing in a pitch black room alone. You dance until you see a partner there dancing with you. It is truly amazing to witness." she noticed Wally looking at her in confusing.

"You dance in an enclosed dark room pretending you dance with your partner. In time your body naturally begins accept the routine and you get better." Wally was just about to say something, but the serious look on his instructors face stopped him.

"But the technique is not for everyone, dizziness from dancing sets in as soon as you stop and you may experience nausea, sickness and disorientation. I recommend this only for the most determined dancers. As it is rare that the technique to be used those who are able to perform it are few in between. I have seen better and far superior dancer break down from the method and unable to bear the side effects. Are you sure you can handle it?" Wally gulped at the look Madam Delacour sent his, still he stood his ground and nodded.

"Yes, yes I can." He said fiercely, his eyes looking at Anne Sophie. She smirked.

"Very well. Every Saturday for 3 hours you will practice without rest. You will practice until either of us can a shadow dancing with you! Now we will begin." She said getting up.

….

Months later Aria and Wally were practicing together for the upcoming contest. They twirled and swayed, Aria had one hand on Wally's shoulder. His other hand was on her waist.

"Wow, Wally you`re getting good at this." She complimented as they were in the last few moments of the dance as the melody faded.

With sweat beading down his forehead Wally smiled at his best friend.

"Really? I didn't notice. Wanna try the swing again?" he asked looking at his friend energetically. Even though he hated the thought of dancing at first, swing dancing grew on him. It was energetic and cheerful, just like him.

Aria smiled at that.

"Sure why not." She said and Wally went to switch the CD as they got in position to start and the music began.

…

Barry Allen, a forensic scientist and secretly The Flash could not believe what his girlfriend had just told him. Simply couldn`t.

"You`re telling me, your nephew. Wally. The genius energetic as a hamster on sugar is competition in a dancing competition?" she might as well had told him Batman`s favorite color was pink. He would have believed that more. Iris just smiled.

"Yes." Was all she said smiling. But Barry knew that smile. He knew that smile very well. She was hiding something . Something important.

"And how did he discover his talent I still do not believe he has?" Barry asked raising a skeptical eyebrow. Iris`s smile turned into a full blown 'cat- ate - the – canary' smirk.

"Now that is an interesting tale." She said leaning onto the table further.

"Want to hear it?" she teasingly asked with the smile on her face. He leaned forward towards her face.

"Please enlighten me." A mischievous smirk appeared on his face matching hers.

"You know that little girl that lives across the street from him?" Barry raised an eyebrow yet again.

"Aria." He remembered Wally talking about her and her family.  
"The kid with five brothers?"

"Four. And yes." Iris both corrected and confirmed.

"What about her?" Barry asked. The smirk was back on Iris`s face.

"Well according to Wally that girl has Puppy dog eyes and pout that would make The Dark Knight of Gotham fell guilty."

Barry`s eyes widened. The League`s Dark Knight was one of the most difficult person to get to show any emotion, let alone guilt trip. Puppy dog eyes with that power diverted at Wally…

The answer finally popped in Barry`s mind and he started snickering which evolved into full blown laughter. Iris joined in at that point.

"Wow." Was the only thong Barry could after catching a breath from laughing?

"I know, she`s got him more whipped than I have you. I can`t imagine what would it be like when they grow up." Barry arched the eyebrow at that.

"Re

Really? You got me whipped?" He asked quietly.

Iris just leaned in even more, to the point where their lips were brushing against each other. Barry`s eyes were half lidded, but before he could closed the close the distance for a delicious kiss, she pulled back and got off her seat in the booth.

"More than you know sweet heart." She said leaving him gaping for a minute, until he smirked. Pulling out a few bills for said food bill, he grabbed his jacket and followed after her.

…..

Kids of all ages were all waiting in one giant dressing room. There were all dressed in colorful clothes. The more grown up girls had dresses that clung to their figures, the younger ones had flowy yet modest enough ones. The boys on the other hand were different. Each had a suit the matched their partner, some with long sleeves and some without any sleeves at all. One thing they had in common was the slight tremor in their hands as they waited for their turn to dance.

Someone clapping their hand in order to get their attention. Turning their head the saw Madam Delacour looking at the children.

"All right gather round. "She spoke, making children and teens and even young adults from elementary to college and older gather and make a circle with her in the centre.

"Now remember, I do not care for winning, I care if you dance with your heart." She said easing the children`s fear of losing.

As the announcer`s voice sounded Wally and Aria prepared for their turn. Since they were the youngest they would compete first.

Wally had his hair slicked back and was wearing a leather jacket with black trousers and a White T- shirt underneath.

Aria on the other hand had her hair in a high pony tail with a red ribbon in her hair. She was wearing a vintage 1950`s dress with thick shoulder straps and a bow that was on the left side of her waist. The dress was red with tiny yellow polka dots.

Wally felt a hand grab his in a tight grip. Turning to his left he saw Aria smiling at him but judging by the slight trembling of her hand he deducted she was just as nervous as he was.

The two oldest dancers Kris and Anna approached them. The older male patted Wally`s head as he smirked.

"Knock`em dead kid." He told him as Anna shared a smile with Aria.

Wally grinned. The audience won`t know what hit them.

…

"And now ladies and gentlemen. The beginner division. Representing Midnight Academy are Wally West and Aria McNeil!" The announcer said as the children walked into the arena and a spotlight shone upon them.

"There`s our little lassie." Shamus said as the pair got in position.

"Dancing the swing." The announcer finished and as the music started playing Wally and Aria began to dance. It was a highly energetic dance, filled with twirls and swings. It radiated joy and made all the spectators smile.

Barry was actually surprised, he did not expect Wally to be so energetic about the dancing. Iris who was sitting next to him whispered in his ear.

"He`s really good isn`t he?" Barry could only nod his head in response.

"Very. They look as if they had been dancing for several years, not a mere few months." He noted. Iris gave him a small smile, and directed her gaze at the children.

"Well they have two hour dancing sessions three hours a week, but Mary has told me that Wally actually spends three additional hours since he does not have the same talent as Aria."

As the final note of the music finished Wally and Aria froze in the pose as they practiced over and over. As the light over them dimmed they quickly hurried out of the dance floor and watched as the other kids took their turns. Samba, rumba, waltz, and jazz all kinds of dances passed.

Kris and Anna were the last with the 'Tango De La Roxanne'. The amount of passion in said dance mesmerized the children. It looked as if the two were flirting on the dance floor. As they looked at the dancing couple more and more the two 8 year olds felt themselves blush. The same thing was happening to their family members in the audience.

"Oh my" Momoko said as she covered her cheeks with her hand to conceal the scarlet color they had sprouted. When that was enough she hid her face in her husband's shoulder, Mary doing the same thing with Rudolph. Iris only exchange a single glance with Barry that spoke volumes of what she thought of the dance as he merely placed a hand over her shoulder and pulled her closer to himself to whisper something in her ear that made a slight red hue appear on her cheek bones.

Despite the 'romantic' thoughts he had from the dance Shamus reminded himself that he had a daughter who would soon be the one who would dance like that. The dark thought of protecting his princes generated into his four sons and all males of the McNeil had the same though and barely noticeably nodded.

In the backstage Wally felt a shiver quickly creep up his spine but before he could figure out what had just happened it was gone as quickly as it came.

As the contest ended Wally and Aria were called to be given a Second Place Prize. The two families said good bye to each other before departing home where the two respective competitors practically collapsed in their beds and fell as sleep as soon as their eyes closed.

Just before he drifted off to Dram Land Wally muttered.

"Don`t forget the promise."

In the house across the street a certain black haired girl smiled and nodded.


	3. Chapter 3 Summer Breeze

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

Huge thanks to Snow Wolf22 and Smiles for their encouraging review. It really cheered me up.

Chapter 3: Summer Breeze

Summer finally arrived and with it the annual McNeil family`s trip to Ireland. As promised Wally was going to the McNeil family ranch. Shamus said that he had a big family and his eldest brother, older than Shamus by 5 years ran the ranch their father has.

Connor McNeil was a few inches taller than his brother, with red hair and a matching full beard as well. Though a few streaks of silver here and there could be seen. After all he was the eldest, older than Shamus by 5 whole years and he was fond of his younger brother, and even more fond of his nephews and niece. When he saw his family approaching with their plus one he raised an eyebrow.

"Last time I checked, you had five wee ones Shamus, not six. Did ye have one on the road?" A grin grew on his face as he spoke in an obvious Irish slur, until he felt a hit on his shoulder. Looking down he saw his wife Bridgette with her blond hair and blue eyes frowning at him.

"Connor McNeil! You are being incredibly crude." She scolded him the as if she had not just been frowning, she turned and gave Momoko a smile.

"Momo! It`s been ages." She exclaimed as she went to hug her sister-in-law. Turning to Wally she knelt down until her eyes leveled with Wally`s.

"And who is this little gentle man?" she asked flashing a smile at the young West.

Aria stepped forward as spoke up as she gave Wally a friendly one armed hug.

"This is my friend Wally West! He`s here with us, for the summer." Bridgette chuckled at the answer. Then she turned to speak to Aria.

"Your cousins are at the sheep stables, a few lambs need to be cleaned off." She informed the girl whose brothers heard and hurried over to said stabled.

"And Grandma and Grandpa?" Aria asked, earning a smile from the slightly older couple.

"Da`s in his workshop and Ma`s in the kitchen, since you said you were bringing someone extra." Connor said pointing to the huge mansion like house. Since jimmy and Brandon had already ran towards the stables, Collin and Duncan started walking towards the workshop.

Shamus turned towards his brother to give him a one armed hug, he looked around for his sisters but he did not see them anywhere.

"Where are Alice, Jasmine and Rose?" he asked remembering the triplet sisters, but a soft frown etched hi face when Connor shook his head.

"They couldn't make it. Alice is having a huge client in London to defend and is swamped with paperwork, Jasmine has a whole line of clothes to design, or so Bridgette told me and Rose I busy with the museum exhibit of Scandinavian Artifacts. It`s just us this year."

As much as he was disappointed, Shamus understood.

Meanwhile Wally was being dragged by Aria towards the huge mansion.

"You`ll love Nana. She makes the best food ever!" Aria said which made the ginger boy perk up.

They finally reached the house and Aria opened the door, leading Wally through the halls of the ancient looking abode until they reached the kitchen.

It was a vastly spacious room, built with stone walls. It was a mix between medieval and modern. The left side had a huge fire pit that was raised so it reached to an adult's waist with a stone chimney looming above it.

The length of said pit was nearly two meters, big enough to fit and roast plenty of food. Next to the walls of the pit were three iron bars with hooks on them, mostly used for hanging pots of stew and/or soup over the fire. On the left side was another pit, but the difference here was that it was more than half the size smaller than the other and it had a huge iron door hanging next to it. That was the oven most likely.

A bit further away, was a long and sturdy wooden table which looked as if it can handle the weight of several adult men as the repeatedly jumped on it. That table was currently filled with plates and bowls of prepared and unprepared food. From salads of fresh vegetables, to pots filled with soups, to roasted meat which Wally could smell as it was cooking.

On the right side of the kitchen were the more modern appliances. It had the fridge, stove and oven along with a huge sink and cupboards. On the right as soon as you entered were baskets from smallest at the top to largest at the bottom, hanging in that order. And across the door a huge cabinet filled with various plates and bowls.

And at the huge wooden table an elderly looking woman stood, chopping vegetables. Her long gray hair pulled up in a bun at the top, yet still falling down below her shoulders due to its sheer length. She was wearing a sky blue apron which reached to about her knees but her skirt was longer.

"Nana!" Aria shouted, making the woman turn to see who called her and familiar silver eyes peered at the two children in a humorous way as she gave them a smile.

"Hello little song bird." The woman greeted Aria as the girl launched herself towards her grandmother for a hug.

'_So that`s where she got her eye color.'_ Wally thought as she watched his friend hug her grandmother.

"Who is your fried there little song bird?" The old woman asked gently.

Aria grabbed Wally who had not stepped a foot in the kitchen by the hand and dragged him over. A pair of silver eyes almost identical to Aria`s settled over him.

"Nana, this is Wally. My best friend, the one I told you about." Nana smiled at the description.

"Ah, yes the young man who is your dance partner." Aria nodded, confirming the statement as Wally blushed. Being known as a dancer was still not cool in his books.

Seeing the blush the woman chuckled before turning to her granddaughter.

"Song bird could you go to the ice room and get me the two baskets of oyster mushrooms?" She asked Aria who nodded and pulled Wally to a door next to the cupboard.

A flight of stairs leading down greeted them. Aria started climbing down, Wally following after her.

(This is totally motivated by the ice room in Change The World by Princess Kassie. If she is reading this I just want to say "Your story is awesome!")

They found themselves in a room with a very low temperature were vegetables, milk and other dairy products. Aria was searching through a few shelves for the two baskets her grandmother asked for and went back to the kitchen.

Once her grandmother had what she asked for Aria asked.

"Nana, can we go in the woods? I promise we won`t stray far." The old woman chuckled before answering

"Of course you can." Before her face turned serious."Remember not to go near horses that do not have our color mark, don`t step in the fairy rings and be care full not to trip." Wally was left confused. The last one he understood but the first two just left him confused.

Aria promised to be careful and her grandmother spoke again.

"Now go have fun, the others only want to be around grownups. It`s nice you still like the woods." Aria grinned and ran out of the kitchen, calling Wally`s name to follow after her.

Katherine McNeil`s eyes followed the figure of her granddaughter as it disappeared between the trees of the near forest with her friend. Edward, her husband approached her, just as the children raced off into the woods.

"Who was tha` lad our little songbird`s with?" He asked his wife, eyes shining in curiosity.

"Her friend Wally, the boy she convinced to go dancing with her." Katherine said, smiling at that.

"If she can make him listen to her at this age, I fear for what`ll happen to him when she grows up." Edward said as he laughed, remembering the tale his son told him how little Aria convinced the lad to be her dancing partner. Katherine smirked at that.

"Oh I think I know what she`ll be like…" she whispered, making Edward turn towards her with questioning awe.

"Ye mean ye saw…."He started but was silenced when Aria shook her head.

"Not yet, but Eddie it`s there. She has the gift. And it`s far stronger than mine was at her age. It`s just dormant. Don't know why." Katherine explained. Turning towards her husband and Soul mate she said to him.

"You might need to contact Nabu." Edwards shook his head.

"Nelson hasn`t put on the helmet or been near it since Inza died. Loosing half your soul can do that to you." Katherine sighed.

"May she rest her soul in peace." Edwards nodded to his wife`s silent prayer.

"Aye." He then thought of the boy he saw with his niece, his little songbird.

"And what of the`boy, Wally w`s it?"Katherine chuckled.

"No he is not gifted in the arts, if anything from what Aria has told me, he doesn`t eve believe in magic. But if she can make him go to dancing lessons I`m pretty sure she can persuade him in the reality of magic." Edward hugged his wife around the waist.

"Well she has your eyes. If anyone does it I bet it will be her. After all weren't we the same?" he asked kissing her temple. She giggled like a school girl of 16 years of age. That's how young she felt in moments like these. Smiling, the elderly couple went to greet their family.

…

Wally and Aria. Turning towards his friend Wally asked.

"Do you have it?" Aria nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out an emerald green ribbon. She turned her back towards him as she tried to tie her hair with it, but had little success gathering all the ebony locks into her tiny hands. Seeing her struggle with it, Wally reached forward and too the ribbon from her hands.

"Here I`ll tie it." He said as he gently as to not pull out at it he gathered her hair and tied the ebony locks with the bow in a pony tail. When she turned to look at him her black strands swayed behind her.

"Thanks Wally." She grinned and they started walking further in the forest. After a few minutes Wally thought back to what Aria`s grandmother told her to be careful about. Why does a horse have to have a color brand? Is it not theirs? Will its owner get angry? What will happen? Finally he asked Aria.

"Hey Ria, what did you grandma mean when she told us not to go near horses who don`t have a color brand? Do they belong to someone else?"

Aria turned towards him but her face did not have it`s usual smile. It was strangely serious.

"Well no they don`t belong to anyone…."She trailed off not sure how to continue.

"So what? Are they wild or something?" Wally asked

"Something like that. Do you know what a kelpie is?"

"Kelp, it`s seaweed, right?" He was getting confused.

"No, Not kelp. Kelpie. Do you know what a kelpie is?" she asked again but he only shook his head before she started explaining.

"A kelpie is a mythological creature that disguises herself as a horse…."She started.

"So it`s like a Pegasus or unicorn?" Wally asked, but she shook her head.

"Kelpies are monsters that disguise themselves as horses or in some cases a beautiful woman or man. They lure they prey and when it gets too close the grab it and drag it underwater where they devour them." Chills passed down Wally`s spine. Wheat a horrible myth.

"That can`t be true can it?" He argued Aria sighed and started explaining again.

"Well there have been stories of where kelpies were more enamored with their prey so they kept them only to dote on them. Ireland is the home of many myths. The locals here a superstitious so we have a special color that does not wash off without a special soap and we, so we color the flanks of our horses to recognize them. So if they see a horse without the color mark they know it`s a kelpie. They believe it`s better safe than sorry."

"And what about the rings your grandmother mentioned?" Wally asked.

Aria looked around before she pulled him along by the hand through the forest until they came to a stop. In front of them was a perfect circle made of mushrooms.

"It`s believed that if you step in a fairy ring, you`ll become it`s prisoners and the fairies will kidnap you. It is best you avoid them." Wally looked at the circle.

"You have anything here that won`t kidnap me ore hurt me?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Aria grinned.

"Tons. There are selkies, wood wives, pixies and sprites."She counted on her fingers.

"And those are just the first I thought of." She said.

"What are they?" Wally asked, he had never heard of them, well except for fairies.

"Selkies are seal like creatures that usually shed their seal skin and become human and if they want to go back to the water they have to put their seal skin back on. They are very playful and friendly and love to be petted. A wood wife is like a nymph with long soft hair that has flowers and vines that are inter twined in it but never tangle it. If you are in the woods and a woman asks you to help and after you do gives you a satchel filled with wood chips she is a wood wife. Since the satchel of wood chips becomes a satchel filled with gold. Pixies are mischievous that mess up and steal your things, and sprites are usually fairy like and near water or flowers, they feed on the nectar and dew drops." Aria explained with a smile on her face.

Wally was paying attention to her, but as she spoke he swore he saw a ball of light dance through some of t the most distant trees in his sight. It tempted him to follow after it and find out what it was. He was about to as Aria about it when he heard Aria`s father call them for dinner. The prospect of food won over the curiosity of finding out the source of that strange light and he joined Aria in a race back to the house.

…

Once they got there Wally met Aria`s cousins, Harold who was 11, Cody a teen at age 15 and Malcolm a 17 year old. All the boys greeted Wally and joked around with him as if he were their long lost brother, until dinner. But the piece de resistance was when they all sat at the table for dinner. Nana had thought her daughters would be coming, so she had cooked a bit too much. The whole table was covered with plates containing food of all kinds.

There was stew, fired food, vegetables, salads and a few other things Wally could not recognize. The eight year old boy was hearing an angel choir singing in the background as a heavenly light bathed the table in his head.

Seeing his expression Aria giggled. Leaning towards him she whispered.

"Wait until Nana and Grandpa start eating and then you can dig in." She only got a nod as a signal that Wally understood, due to the 8 year old still being in awe of the feast in front of him.

A minute later the family began dinner, the boys grabbing what they wanted and digging in as soon as it was on their plate. By the way they almost inhaled their food, you`d think they haven't eaten in a week instead of the few hours. Wally joined in, sticking to the food he was familiar with. So far he had tried the smoothest mashed potatoes ever, fired veggies that had a very nice juiciness yet did not feel like eating grass most kids said it tasted like. And lastly cooked ribs, the meat was tender and succulent and the sauce that it was dipped in only made it more irresistible.

"Wally try this?" He turned to see Aria holding out an earthen pot filled with brown strips that seemed fried in oil.

"What is it?" He asked as he leaned forward and took a whiff of the still warm dish. It smelled great.

"Oyster mushrooms. The ones grandma told us to bring today from the ice room. They are pretty common here. And is one of my favorite dishes." Aria said proving her point by scooping up a generous amount and placing it on her plate. Taking his fork, she poked one of the strips on and passed the utensil with food to him. Wally looked at his for with the mushroom piece on it then at Aria who seemed to be eating them with vigor. He sighed before biting of the food on the utensil. It was slightly chewy, but it complimented with the salty but really good flavor.

Following Aria`s example he scooped up a huge serving and started eating. Edward leaned in to whisper to his wife.

"Remind you of anyone."Making Katherine giggle. She nodded, the resemblance was uncanny.

As dinner was drawing near an end, the adults started to chat about who will be sleeping where.

"Wally can share a room with Aria. They are best friends."Momoko suggested looking at the two 8 year olds. And a few hours later the smallest, them being Aria and Wally were sent to bed.

Aria led Wally through the halls to her room asking him about his thoughts of the ranch.

"So, what do you think?" She looked at he and he sent her a smile.

"I love it here! Do you think I'll get to ride horses? If I learn that I'd be so cool!"Aria giggled

"Yeah you`ll definitely get to ride one." She said as they approached the door to her room.

"Hey I just need to ask one thing. When we got in the ice room today. I saw a dozen cheese wheels. Where did you get them?" he asked as Aria handed him pajamas.

"We make it."She simply said as she rummaged through her bag for her sleep wear as well.

"What?" Was the oh so eloquent question Wally asked.

"You do know we live on a ranch, right? We make our own cheese, meat and bread. Also have eggs and other dairy products. We even sell the extra we don't need. I thought you figured that out."

"Well I didn't, but good night. See you in the morning." Wally said as he turned over to sleep on the right side of the bed.

…

The new day dawned over the McNeil ranch. Aria and Wally were sleeping when the door to their room busted open and in ran her cousins and brothers, all ready and dressed for chores.

"Wakey, wakey! Aria, Wally!"Duncan shouted as he gripped the thin covers and then pulled them away from the bed, making the two kids groan and turn on the other side.

"Time to get up guys!" Collin pulled the curtains away from the windows, allowing sunlight to stream in the room. That did not awaken the two slumbering children.

Seeing as the two were not getting up, the brothers signaled for the big guns. Malcolm and Cody entered the room and grabbed Aria and Wally by the ankles hanging the upside down and shaking them until the two eight year olds woke up. Once they were awake enough to protest to them being upside-down Collin signaled for Malcolm and Cody to put them down.

"Time for chores!"Duncan said in a sing song voice. Aria groaned and muttered to Wally.

"We better get up, before they pour ice cold water on us."She said staggering as she got up.

"Seriously?!"Wally groaned out, getting a nod from Aria.

A few minutes later the two children found themselves in the stable, clothed and breakfast still in their mouths. They had been tasked with feeding the horses all they had to do was hold the bucket as they ate the oats out of it.

So far Wally was doing fine, until he approached an especially tall horse with furry hooves, his coat a dark brown collar with a white mane and tail. He towered over Wally, making the boys hands shake slightly as he held up the bucket. The horse huffed and turned his flank to him, not even looking back at the boy who was still holding the bucket.

Wally frowned before moving around to offer him the oats once again, and getting the same results. When he tried for the third time it was clear that the young colt was getting annoyed with him when the horse neighed in his face making Wally stumble back a few steps.

Huffing from frustration Wally tried looking at the situation from another angle. He approached the horse again, the horse rearing back in caution, but Wally simply place the bucket filled with food on the ground and backed away.

They young colt looked at Wally, who hadn`t moved from the few steps he took away from the bucket. Cautiously and slowly he began to eat, sneaking a glance at Wally who stood away from time to time. After all the oats were eaten, Wally went to retrieve the bucket and he saw something peculiar. A birthmark on the horse's chest, in the shape of a lightning bolt. Flash`s lightning bolt! A dazzling smile emerged on Wally`s face, he directed it to the colt before he left the stables, forgetting about the bucket. As he exited he heard a voice on his left speak. He turned and saw it was Cody.

"Stubborn one isn't he?" the teen said motioning back to the stables.

"He`s a gypsy horse, we got him a few months ago. His previous owner was not so nice to animals. He beat them into submission. He was the only one who wasn`t broken when the man got arrested. My guess was he was going to be put down if we didn't buy him from the pound." Looking at Wally he smiled.

"At least he started eating."Wally looked back to the stable doors.

"Can I try to ride him?" A frown appeared on Cody`s face before a smirk replaced it.

"If you can get him out of the stables, he`s yours." He said and left.

Wally stood there for a minute with a thoughtful expression on his face, before an idea came to him and he raced back to the house.

Aria in the other hand sis not has such a problem. In fact a young mare playfully nipped her hand. She was silver gray in color with pure white mane and sky blue eyes. Her mane was especially long; so long it could be braded. Aria fell in love with that horse the minute she saw her.

"Hey there girl." Aria took a carrot from those she kept in her pocket when she fed the horses and offered it to the mare who gladly took it. Aria chuckled. The horse leaned down so the child could pet it`s nose.

"Such a gentle creature you are."That earned her a soft snort, courtesy of the horse.

Aria looked at the nameplate where the name was carved out.

"Azure, huh? Well it suits you."She said nuzzling the horse, getting a quiet neigh. But before she could do anything else Collin called her out, it was time to renew the paint brands on the horses. Opening the gate she tied a rope around Azure`s neck and calmly led her to the fenced circle where several cans of various paint were. She saw her brothers and cousins leading other horses, but no Wally in sight. Where was he?

…

Wally rushed to the house, in Aria`s room to hi suitcase, grabbed two items from it after a brief search and ran back to the stables. The horse was where he left him, with the empty bucket he had forgotten to put back.

Wally smiled at the colt before reaching behind his back and pulling out his Flash logo T-shirt. The horse looked confused until Wally showed him a drawn image of the Flash. Cautiously Wally opened the stable door and backed away and miraculously enough the horse followed him, eyes trained on the symbol still held in Wally`s hands. Once they were out of the stables the horse trudged away to join the other in the close off area.

"There you are! Come on"Aria said pulling Wally towards the paint. He eyed the palette of colors before grabbing red and yellow pain and walking towards the Gypsy horse. The colt was still watching him wearily as Wally placed the drawing down slowly he took the yellow paint and dipped his finger in it before dragging it across the colts flank. The horse watched silently as Wally stuck out his tongue as he drew and colored the lightning bolt on his flank before moving to draw a mirror shape of the bolt on the other side as well.

Once it was finished Wally took a step back to admire his master piece. Looking up he asked the horse.

"Well? What do you think?" the colt glanced at his flank and trotted up to Wally who was expecting a déjà vu from his trying to feed the horse, but was surprised when the horse lowered his head and nuzzled Wally`s shoulder.

A bit further away Edward shook his head.

"I see it but I don't believe it." He muttered as he took a drag from his pipe.

"Figures that kid would unknowingly tame a horse."

Back with Wally, the boy was thinking.

"I`ve decided. Since you like the lightning bolt so much, you name will be Thunder."To which the horse neighed in approval.

"Thunder it is then." Wally said patting the horse.

Cody approached them with an awed expression on his face. Seeing that Wally smirked.

"So is the deal done or not?" He asked.

Cody looked at him, then at the horse, then back at him. Finally a smirk appeared on his face. He held out his hand for Wally to shake.

"A deal is a deal," he said as they shook on it. "He`s yours."

…..

**(AN) If you managed to notice, Thunder reflects the fact that I read in the DC wiki that Wally West suffered from abuse. Since it clearly does not happen here I thought to just mention it.**

**Also the colored brands are obviously a reference to My Little Pony.**

**Now I have to say that if I manage to get over 6 reviews I will update this story in just three days. I am already starting the next chapter. But if I don't get +6 reviews, and the review box doesn't hold 9 reviews the update will take a week and a half.**


	4. Chapter 4 Omake: Wedding Bells And Blues

**I do not own Young Justice. Only my OC and all other OCs.**

Chapter 4: Wedding Bells and Blues

The year of 2005 ended in a blast for the West and Allen family.

On Christmas Barry had finally walked out of a certain store carrying a small box in his pocket that felt like it weighed a ton.

A week later he finally gathered enough courage and got down on one knee and asked his long time girlfriend to marry him as the clock chimed midnight.

His answer came when she jumped into his arms and started peppering his face with kisses before settling for a long one.

So in the first minute of the New Year the couple spent their time kissing each other.

"Yes! Absolutely yes!"Iris shouted so he could hear her over the fireworks.

Barry looked at his watch seeing that it was 2 minutes after midnight and jokingly asked.

"What too you so long I asked you last year?" only for Iris to chuckle and lean in to kiss him again.

The next morning Iris went to her brother's home to show and tell her family about the proposal.

Mary who was at that time drinking tea with Momoko squealed and hugged her sister-in-law when she saw said ring. Momoko on the other hand was a bit calmer.

"May I offer my congratulations?" She said to Iris who over the time got to know her since his nephew was friends with her daughter.

"Thank you." She said as she sat down and took the offered cup of tea Momoko had placed in front of her. Taking a whiff of it she continued to chat with Mary.

"So have you made any plans of when the wedding will be?" Mary had asked.

"Well Barry actually wants it to be as soon as possible. So I was thinking maybe February."

"A winter wedding. I think it suits you." Momoko said

….

And so the wedding was arranged in record time. The reception would be held on the roof top garden in the best hotel of the city which was owned by a close friend of Barry`s.

The wedding dress was picked. Caterers were chosen and everything was ready.

After seeing Aria and Wally`s latest dance performance Iris decided she wanted them to be her flower girl and ring bearer.

While Aria was happy about actually being part in a wedding, Wally grumbled of having to wear a suit but agreed to do it for his aunt.

….

The morning of February 12 was greeted with much enthusiasm by the West and McNeil families.

Iris had come to spend the night yester day at her brother's house and now the two families were rushing to get ready for the big day.

Mary was already in her dress as she finished Rudolph's tie and started on Wally`s after the two of them were clad in their tuxedos.

Iris was wearing a simple sweater and jeans under her jacket since she could not drag her wedding dress everywhere. It was instead in her car in a clothes bag, ready to be put on.

Momoko on the other hand had a harder time. Unlike Mary she had her husband and three sons to make sure they looked presentable.

Hearing the door bell she turned to her husband whose tie she was tying.

"Make sure the boys are dressed. I have to go with Iris and Mary. Remember in front of the church at 9 and it starts at 10." She said as she finished the bow.

"Aye `tis a fine month for a wedding." Shamus said, making his wife smile before leaving with Aria.

Mary, Iris, Momoko &amp; Aria got dressed and went to the beauty parlor while Rudolph, Wally, shamus, Collin, Brandon, Jimmy and Duncan were left to get ready.

Iris smiled when Aria stepped out of the changing room in the parlor. The preteen was holding the billowy skirt that had snow flake and frost shaped sequins on the silky skirt starting from the hem of the dress then branching off towards the waist.

She had a white fur lined cape to match with Iris` fur lined dress.

Next they moved onto hair and makeup. Aria was the first to finish with her hair style since it was a simple side braid with flowers woven into.

The makeup artist was excited to have a young jewel like Aria as her customer.

So the ten year old had light blue eye shadow on her eyes complimenting the winter look along with some lip gloss.

"She is already so adorable I can`t do much else. She`ll be a hassle when she grows up." The makeup artist said looking at Arias` mother.

"Well she has four older brothers and a protective best friends, so I'm not worried." Momoko said causing all the women to laugh.

"So how has Wally been lately?" Iris asked.

"Fidgety. And he`s starting to eat more. He must be approaching puberty." Aria shrugged, making her mother Wally's` mother and most of the other women and personnel start to laugh again.

"Boys will be boys." Aria huffed as she crossed her arms getting nods of agreement from females of various ages present in the room. Turning towards Momoko Iris said.

"She just learned one of the first lessons every woman and girl should know."

"No she already knew that lesson. Living with five other men does that to you." Momoko said as Mary giggled at that answer.

"One thing we can all agree on is that the fastest way to a man's heart really is through his stomach, but that is an understatement for Barry and Wally." At that the three women laughed so hard their eyes started to tear up.

…

Wally was trying to smoothen his hair with gel, but it kept spiking back up. Giving up and placing the comb down he heard the front door ring. Walking towards it he opened it and saw his uncle standing there dressed impeccably.

"Hey kid is Iris here?" Barry asked looking around and sighing in relief when Wally shook his head.

"Good it`s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding." That got Wally confused.

"Why?" he asked. It seemed like a strange rule.

"I really don`t know. But we better hurry to the chapel it`s almost time." Barry said looking at his wrist watch.

The three of them quickly went to Arias` home to get her brothers and father before heading towards the chapel where they were supposed to meet the girls.

…

Aria and the woman arrived before Wally and the boys. From what she could see quite a few guests on Barry`s side already.

A man with black hair and a boy next to him with the same color both wearing sunglasses and waiting patiently. Another black haired male sat further away. He had slicked hair and glasses and a raven haired lady sat next to him.

A blonde couple sat further back with a red haired teenager who looked as if he was scowling and did not want to be there. The male had a short beard which was neatly trimmed. At the very back another blonde man stood, he lovingly held a red haired woman in his arms as a boy slightly older than her and Wally sat next to them. He had a darker tan than the couple, silver eyes and light blonde hair.

Her attention was drawn from them to Barry who had entered looking quite nervous causing the mentioned four men to head towards their friend to probably try and calm his nerves.

She on the other hand went to find her family. She knew her mother was with Iris and Mary. The three women she had just seen walked towards the room where the bride was.

She found her father and brothers near the wall but Wally was nowhere to be seen.

She found him in front of a mirror, he was trying to fix his bow tie but was not succeeding by the looks of it.

Chuckling she approached him.

"Here, let me do that for you." She told him, taking the bow and tying it in a perfect butterfly bow. For a moment her eyes caught his and they just looked at each other. They were brought out of their daze by someone clearing their throat. That someone turned out Momoko.

"Aria sweetie, you need to come with come with so you can get your basket." Her mother said with a smile on her face.

As she entered the same room where Iris and the other were Aria hears the bride count.

"Now let`s see if I have all of them. "She mumbled as she started counting off.

"What are those things?" the red haired woman Aria had seen in the main room of the chapel asked.

"They are the thing every bride needs to have on her wedding dress." Aria said smiling at the woman who returned the smile.

"Okay something old, the necklace my grandma gave me." She said pointing at an amethyst pendant that hung over her collarbone.

"Something new, the new shoes I bought." Iris said lifting her skirts to show the pearl white shoes with tiny little sequins on them.

"Something borrowed the bracelet Mary loaned me." She looked at the silver band around her wrist.

"And something blue…" at that Iris paled, and started shuffling around to see anything that was the color blue.

Aria walked up to a mirror and carefully pulled one of the jewel flowers out of her hair. The tiny crystals glittered brightly.

Approaching the fussing bride she held out the flower.

"Here, let me put it in your hair." Iris paused and saw the tiny blue flowed and tears pooled into her eyes as she bent down so the ten year old could place the gemmed flower in her red hair.

"And don't forget the last one." Aria said reaching for her tiny purse she brought along.

"Last one?" Iris spoke in a slightly panicked voice. Nodding Aria pulled out a penny.

"And a penny in your shoe. Come on." She coaxed as iris slipped her foot off her right foot and the ten year old placed the penny inside before slipping the shoe back on and whispered to Iris.

"Perfect fit Cinderella." This time the woman truly teared up and hugged the small girl once she had stood up.

"There there." Aria soothed as Iris tightened her grip of the hug. The other woman in the room were found the situation almost comical. A 26 year old woman being comforted by a 10 year old.

"Are you ready to meet your prince?" Aria asked as Iris gave a laughed as she dabbed at her eyes, trying to keep her makeup intact.

Looking at her watch Mary gasped.

"It`s almost time and then they scurried off to prepare for the wedding.

…

Aria was waiting for her sight to start walking. She gripped the basket tightly and took deep breaths. She was so deep in thought she almost missed the slight nodding of the lady who played the organ.

Slowly taking step after step she threw the flower petals before taking a step, a process that repeated itself until she was in front of the altar and she went to stand next to Wally who was holding the rings on a red velvet cushion.

She and her best friend shared a single look as Iris walked down the aisle effectively making Barry`s jaw drop for a brief amount of time before he looked at his future wife in something akin to admiration.

The couple exchanged vows, rings and told their 'I do`s' while not looking away from each other. When the prince told Barry he could kiss the bride then man acted as if he had been waiting for that for a thousand years if how quickly he pulled Iris for a smooch was any indication.

Soon all the guests were in the roof top garden where the usual cutting of wedding cake was done before the newlywed went to their traditional first dance.

Since it was a roof top garden it was chilly so Aria opted to wear her cloak when she wasn`t dancing. Since it had been a long day she was tired by the time it was midnight, so seeing she was falling asleep on her feet her parents promised they would leave after the bride tossed her bouquet and garter.

The bouquet was caught by a work friend of Iris and the garter by colleagues of hers. Needless to say both parties blushed as the man slid the garter over the leg of the female.

As that was finished Momoko and Shamus quickly said good bye to the others and gathered their coats and in Aria`s case cloak before heading towards their car for a nicely deserved sleep home.

….

**(AN) Okay so I kind of forgot that I had written this chapter about half way so this is the best I could improvise, plus I really wanted to update soon. This is my first time writing a wedding. I need preparing for another fanfic. Idea I have. So if you don't like it I`m sorry and sorry it`s so short but I completely forgot this chapter, but as I said it is the best I can currently do. And if you do like it like and review.**


	5. Chapter 5 An Explosive Project

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

Wow 9 reviews. Hmmm. I`ll take em. So here is the next chapter. We finally get to the origin story of both Wally and Aria.

**PLEASE READ THIS**

**And on the topic of origin story I keep getting confused about what was the origin story of Barry. Since I checked some of the wiki's and in some he gets his powers due to a particle accelerator and in others due to some being dosed in chemicals when lighting hit him. And in the Flash TV series he gets both so if you are just as confused vote on my profile and tell me which origin story sounds better. **

**And I also want to say to the author of UnStoppable Flash, DarthManwe that because of their story I can write this fic more easily since they explained and narrated on how to be a speedster pretty easily so I have them to thank. And if she happens to stumble upon this fic I can only hope she likes it as much as I like hers. Go Speedster Ron Stoppable! Okay, now that I have expressed myself enough and you probably want to strangle me.**

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**ON TO THE STORY! **

Chapter 4: An Explosive Outcome.

"Are you sure this`ll work?" A twelve year old Aria asked as she watched Wally shuffle around in his makeshift garage lab he had set up. She was sitting on the wood cutting table while across from her Wally was carefully mixing chemicals.

A few weeks ago Wally had called Aria`s house in the middle of the night saying he needed to tell her something important. He of course got a lecturing on about at what time it was appropriate to call if there was no emergency by an irritated Aria after it was confirmed it could wait until the morning.

Then at morning he called again. Fortunately Aria had remembered he had something slightly important to tell her despite her being half asleep when he did call for the first time.

So after agreeing to meet in the tree house the hour he got back to his house since he was staying with his aunt at the moment.

It took a while but in a few hour Aria opened her house`s front door to see a wheezing Wally. They quickly ran to the tree house to where Wally told her the thing that was so important that he called her in the middle of the night for.

Once they sat down Wally looked around to see if anyone was nearby and whispered his secret to Aria.

"Barry is the Flash!" he whispered yet his voice was dripping with excitement.

His aunt was married to the Flash! Barry Allen was the Flash! His aunt was married to his favorite super hero!

When asked how he knew that he said that while he was at his Aunts` and uncles` house he had found a journal that depicted how Barry had obtained his powers.

Apparently there was another Flash during the 40`s by the name of Jay Garrick. Barry had been a huge fan of him and when he asked Jay how he got his powers.

It turned out that the first flash got his abilities in an explosion. Barry had been able to record and recreate the same explosion with a bit of help from Garrick. There was an explosion as well and Barry got his powers, who were even stronger than Garrick`s

Once Wally got out of his stupor he nearly begged his uncle to let him be his partner. Bat man already had one so why not.

But Barry was very adamant against having one. He said he didn't need nor wanted a partner. He even held his ground when Wally used the puppy dog eye technique.

Aria had laughed at that, imagining Wally using her technique was downright hilarious. He only used it in dire situations.

Since her puppy dog eye technique did not work Wally decided to recreate the accident just like his uncle did. Only this he would do alone.

After that Wally waited for Barry and Iris to fall asleep before heading to the garage where all the files from Barry`s forensic office/ lab were. Thankfully he found an inventory list of the chemicals his soon to be uncle had

Despite being only twelve Wally was bright for his age and quite good in science related subjects at school.

He had also memorized the chemical and procedure that were written his uncles` journal.

So he had set up his lab consisting of a science kit with some chemicals he had 'borrowed' from the school science lab.

After he had told Aria of his idea she had set her foot saying she was staying there with him until the experiment was over, no matter what. She didn't tell him this but she was worried, something gave her a gut feeling that a bad turn was going to happen.

"So what do you plan to do with it once it`s finished? Not gonna drink it, are ya?" she asked as she looked at her best friend who was hunched over a bunch of epruvets and carefully spilled the liquid in a bigger beaker while a flask was on a burner. Wally shrugged.

"I don't know, I'll cross that bridge when I get there." Turning to her he spoke.

"But when I say 'take cover', you take cover. Got it?" he asked but Aria wasn`t listening to him, she was looking at the flask that had the chemical in it fizzling as it boiled. Turning towards his friend Wally shouted out.

"Ria take cov…" he didn't even get to finish the sentence as the experimenting chemicals resting on the table exploded.

"Wally!" he thought he heard her but then all faded to black.

Nobody was present to notice the tiny red, yellow and white bolts running over Wally`s body and the ethereal blue glow that enveloped Aria. There was nobody else, just two unconscious preteens.

….

Wally was floating, floating in a cloudy space of some sort. He didn't know where he was, but he knew there was a very strange feeling around that made him feel as if he drank several cups of pure black coffee.

"Where am I?" His voice echoed around himself, and he didn't even move his lips. But as much as it was nice to float in the big bright black space of nothing, he felt a huge need to run. It was as if he had a sugar rush, yet he did not remember eating any candy or anything sugary.

Suddenly a gently voice of someone humming a tune was heard. It started out quietly, before it grew louder until it was softly echoing around him in a pleasant manner. Wally knew that voice, it was familiar. He remembed. He remembered summers spent in Ireland. A particular one three years ago. He heard Aria humming the exact same song as she went to bed.

He remembered, it lulling her to sleep, and now it was waking him up. The cloudy area around him was starting to light up. The light grew stronger and brighter until he had to close his eyes from being blinded.

When he opened them he was again temporarily before the light faded away, showing him his surroundings. He was in a hospital room.

He had an ECG and many other machines connected to him.

A beeping that was growing more and more frequent and frankly was causing him a headache.

Sitting up he reached to pat his hand with his right arm only to feel the cloth of bandages.

A sudden rushing of feet was heard before several people rushed into the room.

A couple of doctors and nurses, his parents, and his aunt and uncle.

"What`s wrong?" he asked looking at their stupefied expressions. And then his stomach growled.

"And can I get something to eat? Cause I`m starving!" he exclaimed looking at their even more shocked expressions.

…

Later after he was taken by the doctors to go under several tests to ensure he was healthy he was back in his room.

She sighed as he leaned back on the raised pillow. Apparently his heart had stopped a couple of times which was why the doctors rushed inside.

They told him it was a miracle he had sustained so little burn injuries, since there had been an explosion. The bandage was because he had hit his head when he had fallen unconscious. His friend was more fortunate. She had suffered a mild concussion and some scrapes and bruises but had not been in danger unlike him who had been in coma for half the time when was in the hospital and unconscious in the other half.

As he lay there he heard the humming from down the hallway and it was approaching his room as soft footsteps echoed.

A moment later in stepped Aria carrying a bouquet of sweetly smelling flowers. She was humming and slightly adjusting the bouquet so it`d look better.

Wally deciding he would make a harmless joke with his best friend closed his eyes until she passed the bed and went to place the bouquet with the slightly withered one by the window.

She kept humming as she gently rearranged the flowers before turning around to face him, freezing in her tracks once she saw her best friend sitting up in his bed, smiling at her.

Her eyes watered and the old bouquet dropped from her hands, before she leapt at him to grip him in a rib cracking hug a moment later.

"Don't scare me like that you idiot!" She shouted to the boy who was struggling to suck in a breath since she was still hugging him.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? How helpless I felt when I saw you there sleeping?!" Wally was still struggling to breath but he somehow managed to wheeze out.

"Ria…can`t….breath." luckily that was enough for the ebony haired girl to understand before she loosened the hug.

After sucking in a few lung fulls of air Wally loosely wrapped his arms around Arias.

"I`m sorry, I didn't thought it through, I should have predicted that with the kind of chemicals I was messing with a mere seeking for cover would be pointless. Why did I even try the experiment? I would make a useless hero." He said, this time his hug was the one that slightly tightened his hair obscured his eyes the sorrow and grief in the hidden from the world.

He felt Aria pull away from the hug, before she placed her palms on his cheeks, cupping his face gently between them.

"You are not useless. You are strong, in your own way. And you were hurt much more than I was remember that. So no more of this failure stuff. You and I both came out more or less intact but we healed. Now come on give time the smile I usually see on your face."

Wally attempted a grin.

"No, that goofy smile like the one you had when Mom made you that Mochi cake and you tried the first slice."

The reminiscence of that moment took Wally on a Walk down Memory Lane.

Remembering the heavenly taste of Mrs. Momoko` cake the goofiest of smiles appeared on his face.

"That`s the one."Aria confirmed as she snickered.

Wally felt so lucky he had a best friend.

…

"So I heard you get discharged tomorrow?" Aria asked as she talked to Wally as he munched on a bowl filled with mochi Aria`s mother made just for him.

"Weah. Iph gfeaph. (Yeah. It`s great.)" Wally said with a mouth full of food.

Aria who was already fluent in this due to the many times she heard him speak only rolled her eyes at his behavior.

Since he woke up he had been acting even more hyper and childlike than before. The doctors said that the slight adrenaline rush that the explosion set off was to blame but something told her that was not it.

Anyway Wally` parents just arrived, both of them looking a lot better than the two weeks their son was in unconscious.

"Well let`s go! I`m tired of this place!" Wally shouted a bit louder than necessary.

Chuckling at his optimism Aria followed after him.

…

Two days later Wally managed to leave the house without his mother fussing about him. He had calmed her down saying he was in the tree house in Arias backyard.

There she had told him her side of the story.

H had been in coma for a week before falling unconscious for another. His heart stopped for a total of three times. She had shared a room with him for four days until she was discharged and visited him every day. She got the flowers while humming the song. Every day, the same song.

He had not received heavy injury and the only things that were putting him at risk were the coma and heart failures. Miraculously his heart after the three pauses was in tip top shape which baffled the doctors.

Wally noticed her eyes change color. From her normal silver blue to a dark brown.

"Whoa, did your eyes just change color?" he asked. Aria looked surprised at him before nodding.

"They can't explain it. Some people lighten and darken the shades in their eyes due to their emotion but I can change the color completely. From any spectrum. I don't know why."

"Well I think it looks awesome." He commented luring out a smile from Arias lips.

…

Something weird was happening. Wally felt like he could not stand still.

As soon as the bell rang he ran out of the classroom to the outside. Just as he searched for Aria who was usually racing him at that time he heard someone call out for him.

"Wally!" turning around he saw Aria running towards him.

When she finally reached him she hunched down to catch her breath.

"Why did you run off like that? I thought we were walking together." She asked.

Wally just started at her stupefied. Did he just….

No! He shook his head, the experiment could not have worked could it?

"Anyway, I hope you`re ready for dance lessons. Since we have review day today." She told him as they headed towards the studio.

He almost groaned. Review Day was the one day a month Madam Delacour was watching them dance like a hawk and criticized their dancing. No one was safe, not even the most advanced ones.

After they had surpassed their age group Madame put them in a special group, they were the only two their age there so far. The oldest were 20 and were aiming to be professionals. Wally usually hated this time because he always tripped, due to the pressure Madame` stare made him feel under.

But as he spun Aria and moved through the steps automatically. It somehow felt easier than before. And when the quick paced dances began, something strange happened. When he concentrated on looking at the moves it was as if they were almost slowed down to resemble a slow motion footage.

As practice ended, the energy in Wally` body was not even remotely defused. And let`s not mention the fact that he was barely winded.

Looking at his hands Wally knew he had some running to do.

….

Aria was a bit freaked out. Strange thing were happening since she had woken up from the explosion.

Sure at first the ability to change her eye color appeared which was marked as a medical oddity. Odd yet not rare as she believed.

Then the odder transformations happened.

When she was angry at her brother Duncan she had literally hissed at him and he said for a second her eyes had turned a snake like acid green and the skin under her eyes and on her cheek bones was covered with snake scales.

Then there were the tiny creatures that no one else seemed to see. Like the tiny blue or green butter fly winged creatures that usually just sat on the branches of trees and flowers. And the small humanoid shaped raven that was perched on one of the city` statues.

Then came the powers. First time happed in her room, she needed a pen while she wrote something on her note book as she lay on her bed since the one she was using ran out of ink. And in the next moment a pen was next to her note book.

At first she ruled it out as getting another pen before she sat down but then other things happened.

When she wanted to reach that high shelf but just as she stretched to beach, and her fingers just a millimeter away, suddenly she was lifted and grabbed for the item she needed before looking down only to see herself floating. She had shrieked which caused her to stop floating and drop to her feet.

Now she was cooped up in her room and had refused to go out. Thank god it was the weekend or Madame would have her head.

She just wished this would stop, if not at least tone down. She was getting more and more distressed which in turn caused some small objects in her room to levitate.

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Go away." She shouted, he voice muffled by the pillow she was hugging and the blanket she had draped over herself.

"Songbird, we need to talk." Aria slightly perked at that voice. Her Nana was here? Oh god, her Nana was here! What if she saw the flying things in her room! Oh God. Oh God. Oh God!

"She is right Diari (AN: Deary in Japanese accent.) Let us in and we`ll talk." Her Grandmother was also there. She was so busted.

"No, I… it`s weird in here." She protested.

"It`s all right, we won't laugh. We promise." Her Nana spoke.

"Will you let us in now?" Grandmother asked.

For a moment it was silent as Aria contemplated the odds. But then a quiet 'enter' was heard. That was all the two women needed as they opened the door.

Glancing at the object and paying them no further mind.

Both elderly women sat at both sides of her.

"Sweetheart what you are experiencing is completely normal." Grandmother said.

"It means your powers had finally awoken. You need to be trained. In both arts." Nana added.

"What arts?" Aria asked peeking out and looking at her grandmothers, making them both chuckle.

"Diari, you know how your mother side of your family has been a clan of ninja and priests and priestesses?"

"And the story`s I told you of you and I being ancestors of an ancient family of witches?" Nana finished.

Aria nodded uncertainly.

"Well…."Grand mother trailed off

"They are all true." Nana told her.

There was a moment of silence before…..

"What?!"

That rang out through the house.

….

Wally was ready. He had walked to an abandoned storage lot ware houses near one of the abandoned factories in the distance of the city. Or ran there and arrived 30 miles away from the centre of town in less than 10 seconds.

As he ran around between and over once he found out he can run vertical.

The only thing he could feel or hear was the song from that TV show, he forgot what`s it`s name the lyrics matching the setting perfectly.

_Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Faster faster_

_Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Faster faster_

_Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Run Wally run__  
__Faster faster_

The chanting grew louder and louder as he run laps.

_Come on __boy__, gotta move, gotta run__  
__Gotta feel the road burning__  
__From the heat of the sun__  
__On your feet as you flow__  
__Through the streets, down the hills,__  
__Passing dogs, passing cars,__  
__Passing old rock stars_

He turned his attention away from Central City. Just running in one single direction, not caring where he ended up.

_You can feel all the power__  
__Of the earth as you ride__  
__As it pulls, as it pushes,__  
__Up and down, side to side__  
__You can show they can see__  
__There's the proof on your feet__  
__You're a blur in the air__  
__You've got style, you've got flair_

And as strange it was, this feeling felt so right. He felt as if he was born to run like this, as if it was in his blood as if nothing could stop him.

_Run Wally run  
Run Wally run  
Run Wally run  
Run Wally run  
Run Wally run_

_Run Wally run  
(Run Wally run)  
Faster faster!_

As the chanting said he went faster and faster as the edges of his vision started to blur.

_You're light on your feet  
You're almost home free  
Nothing can stop you  
Look out for that tree_

And with that he smacked into what seemed to be a big tree.

Only one thing escaped his lips.

It was a blunt and quiet.

"Ouch."

…

Aria was a lot calmer once her Nana and Oba-chan explained. On her father`s side she had inherited a unique sort of magic talent. It had skipped her aunts and had manifested in a highly concentrated amount in her, more than her Nana had ever seen.

Her power split into shape shifting and magical abilities.

She had received several books about ancient being and animals in which she cloud shape shift. And a few of them explained and held spells and other related objects.

Nana told her that while she would not be able to teach her, another teacher was found.

His name was Kent Nelson. He had been Doctor Fate, but had not used his object which made Lord of Order in decades due to a tragedy. She did not say what.

Aria would soon catch Kent looking at his pocket watch when training and be taught a valuable lesson.

Oba-san told that her family line was actually stronger since she and her husband were both highly spiritual people. Despite that her mother never showed more than absolute minimal talent. Her brothers had talent, but it seemed as if most of it had gone to her.

She in turn got scrolls and scripts of their ways of meditation and ki energy.

Her teacher would be a young cousin of hers called Kimiko. She was an energetic 20 year old exchange student majoring in Literature, but despite being so cheerful, she was a real slave driver. Since both her and her brothers were gifted with their Oba-san`s and Oji-san`s gifts the five of them were trained in handling their ki energy and the ancient art of Ninjutsu they practiced every day. No stop.

…

Wally wasn`t doing much better any way.

After he had ran in Barry` house, making a few super speed laps around the man, he immediately agreed.

Well not immediately, after Barry had practically screamed for him to slow down and had set down some ground rules.

After Wally promised he`d follow said rules Barry said he could be his partner. He was rewarded a somewhat bone crushing hug from Wally.

….

The parents were another thing altogether.

Shamus and Momoko already knew, so they told Aria and her brothers that if they went in the hero or vigilante business they would understand and if they quit, they would ask no questions.

All they asked was that at least they go through their training so they could control them, Aria especially. Whatever they chose to do with their powers after it was their choice and they would not interfere.

Wally` parents on the other hand were a complete opposite. They had made him promise to be careful, be careful with his powers, take care of himself and a bunch of other stuff.

Finally both sets of parents had given their preteen children hugs before wishing them luck and telling them they loved them.

….

Today was a great day for Kid Flash.

He and Flash had stopped several muggings, one bank robbery, and two or three accidents.

And ran a lot, definitely ran a lot.

Right now they were heading to Gotham, Flash received a distress signal originating from Gotham. Wally didn't know what to think, be excited for a chance to meet the Batman or be on alert because of the usual reputation Gotham had for its insanely high crime rate. His thoughts stopped when he saw The Dark Knight and Boy Wonder of Gotham fighting way too many criminals to be called a fair fight.

Without thinking his uncle rushed, and he eager not to be left out followed after his uncles` example. He ran in punching, kicking, and tripping.

Just as the last one in front of him was down for the count he heard a thud behind him and turned to see one of the bad guys unconscious and the Boy Wonder with a Bo staff in his arms.

"Thanks." He said giving his hand for a handshake.

"No prob." Boy Wonder said.

"No prob? Dude, that was awesome! I`m…" Wally started to say before the younger boy interrupted.

(AN: I am using this scene from the image of Deviantart)

"Kid Flash, also known as Wally West. You are the protégé and new nephew of Flash aka Barry Allen. You live in Central City and Go to Midnight Academy Dancing Academy with your friend since you were six Aria McNeil."

Silence. It ruled the alleyway where the 4 humans stood. Two of them, speedsters had a confused look on then, and the other an imposing figure with a bat symbol on his chest allowed a smirk to appear on his lips.

….

New powers came with a price, Aria had realized. Between school, dancing classes, two extra teachers and catching up sleep there was barely enough time for her to even see Wally, let alone have time to tell him about her newly discovered powers.

Of course she was going to tell him, he was her best friend. Just as soon as she can get some time to tell him.

…

There was another distress call from Gotham. Fortunately it was easily taken care of pretty quickly and as the tow protégé conversed the seasoned heroes decided to speak to each other as well.

"How is your protégé progressing?" The Dark Knight asked looking at the two young children.

"Well, he`s energetic, arrogant and has a big mouth." Flash said sighing.

"He reminds me of myself when I started, though I think he`ll keep the taunting, especially once he hits puberty." He groaned at having to handle the ginger in puberty. Heck even Batman shared sympathies, though he didn't show them.

"And what of his friend? The one that was caught up in the explosion with him ?"

"Aria?"Barry turned to look at Bruce.

"She hasn`t shown any signs of super powers like Wally, except her eye color change ability from time to time. Why?" he asked.

"Because Kent Nelson recently took on a protégé as well."Barry was clearly surprised

"Really? Kent did? I thought he would never mess with magic since the incident."

"He took on a protégé that resembles Aria McNeil." Batman said looking in the distance. Barry` eyes widened.

"You don`t think?" He started, but the Dark Knight shook his head slightly thus canceling that thought.

"I suspect any extra abilities are inherited. Her grandparents from her mother's side and grandmother from her father's side are both well versed in the supernatural and mystical arts and come from long lines of priests and priestesses."

After a few minutes Barry asked.

"Hey do you think letting the kids meet outside of the suits is a good idea?"

"Yes, all though I am usually all for keeping you secret identity I think them knowing would give them chance to bond. It would be simpler to talk to someone who is in the same situation they are."

"So I'll bring Wally next Sunday around 2 in the afternoon?" he got a nod from the vigilante.

"Great see you then!"H e sped off as he spoke those words, Wally following after him.

…

Moths passed and Wally got used to his part time job as Kid Flash with his uncle, he became fast friends with Richard Grayson a.k.a. Boy Wonder, heck even dancing was getting easier to do since due to training he was more mobile and due to his powers more alert. He even managed o shed some of the baby fat and get muscles.

But as great as things were going, there was something missing. He didn't know what.

Thousands of thoughts flew through his head as he danced with Aria a quick step routine. The music ended as he finished twirling her and dipped her in the end. He was pulled out of his musings as he heard clapping. Oh, he had forgotten it was Review Day. He felt like hitting himself.

As he pulled Aria up he saw Madame Delacour approaching them with a smile on her face, which was quite a rare sight during practice.

"Well done Wally, you seem to be in high spirits lately. Excellent dancing Aria. That concludes today's lesson. See you next week!"

As the students slowly left, Wally followed the boys to their assigned changing room to switch clothes since the ones he was wearing now were drenched in sweat. Funny how he was able to run that fast and not break a sweat but here he was panting like a puppy after a class..

Once he was out of the sweaty garment he waited for Aria. When she showed up they quietly left towards the way home.

The studio was not as far away to them as to most kids. While they lived in a suburban neighbor hood the Academy itself was on the edges of the city so a good twenty minute walk was all they needed.

It was a crisp early November early evening and the sky was filled with clouds that promised snowfall soon enough..

"So your birthday is nearing." Aria noted.

"Yeah." he nodded

"You want to celebrate it as usual? You know, you, me, in the tree house with a ton of food?"

"I don't know. Uncle Barry might need me to…." Wally started saying.

"Oh come on! I know being a super hero must feel great but loosen up for your special day at least!" she interrupted making him stop walking and look at her in shock.

"How did you…" He didn't get to finish it because Aria did it for him.

"Know you`re Kid Flash? I was there when you blew up the garage, which got you your powers. Lets not mention the fact that you told me Barry was The Flash. Of course I knew you were Kid Flash, I was just waiting for you to tell me. If you were ever actually going to."

Aria was spilling out everything she had kept bottled up for the last few months. The stress form working too much was getting to her and by the end of her rant she was in tears.

"I can`t remember the last time we spoke more than a sentence since you got the powers. Except school or dance lessons." She muttered quietly as sobs wracked her small frame.

Wally was standing there shocked. Was that really how his best friend felt, that he was leaving her behind now that he had gotten powers. She couldn't be more wrong. He did want to tell her, he just hadn't known how. Okay, now that he thought f it it was kind of dumb of him to think so since she had been there when he got them.

Wrapping his arms around her, just like he did a few months before when he had been in the hospital he whispered.

"Sorry I just got so caught up with everything I, I forgot. Can you forgive me?" He asked looking at her.

She sniffed and whipped out the tears from her eyes.

"Fine. I guess I have to since you`re not the only one who has powers." She said.

"What do you mean?" Wally asked

"Wall, that explosion kick started my own. They are inherited unlike yours, they were just dormant." She finished.

"Really, what are they.

"A mix between shape shifting into animals and magic or ki." She said looking at his gaping expression she giggled.

"Come on I`ll explain it to you once we get home." She said pulling him by the hand still smiling which prompted a big one to bloom on his face as well.

And then he knew what was missing, while being Kid Flash was awesome, telling his best friend about it was way better.

"Do you still want to celebrate in the tree house?" she asked

"Sure, but…" he trailed of making her look at him.

"Do you mind if I bring company?"

…

Dick had been skeptical when Wally a.k.a. Kid Flash had asked him to celebrate his birthday with him in his friends tree house.

Really when he mentioned that he imagined a single room badly built in a tree. Cold and boring.

When he researched Aria McNeil and read that she had four other siblings his expectations turned to Cold and Cramped.

His skepticism was replaced with mild confusion when Wally knocked on the door with a distinct sequence tap on the front door. Soon the door opened and a head belonging to a girl Wally`s age appeared through the small opening.

Her eyes landed on dick and she arched an eyebrow at Wally in a questioning manner to which Wally simply nodded. She then beamed a smile at them and swung open the door so they could enter. Then she spoke for the first time.

"Come on it`s all ready."

Dick grimaced as his thoughts turned back to the tree house and thought just how much preparation it would need but they were quickly showed away as his eyes landed on the talked about tree house. No, not house. Castle. That was a castle on that gigantic tree. So that`s why Wally wanted to celebrate his birthday there.

"This is yours?" he asked the birthday boy who shook his head.

"No, it belongs to Aria but I do have a room there. Come on."

Wally pulled Dick along the spiral staircase that wrapped around the trunk of the tree. Aria was already inside and in front of her was a round cake of red velvet and with 13 candles on it.

"You know for a kid who can run really fast it sure took you a while to get here?" she said making Dick freeze up but then Wally reassured him.

"Relax, she`s my best friend. She knows already."

"And I have some special abilities as well." She said motioning with her hands towards the candles and they lit up one by one.

"Happy birthday!" she shouted to Wally who rushed over to blow them out.

Turning towards the still gaping Dick Wally spoke.

"Oh right. Dick this is Aria, my best friend since six. And aria this is dick, my bets bud and fellow junior hero." He said which made Dick elbow him about the hero comment.

"Ow, Wally how could you replace me as your best friend." she said but her expression and tone of voice suggested she was kidding.

That made Dick grin, as Aria approached him she stuck out her hand for a handshake. Grinning his devil like grin he grasped it and they shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you." Aria said.

"Like wise." He told her.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Lest start the birthday party." Wally shouted.


	6. Chapter6 Side Story: Save The Last Dance

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

Wow 14 reviews. Hmmm. I`ll take em. So here is the next chapter. We finally get to the origin story of both Wally and Aria.

**PLEASE READ THIS!**

Now this will be a side story centering on Madame Delacour and Alfred Penny worth. In the comics Alfred has a daughter with a woman named Mademoiselle Marie. So I'll try to accommodate the circumstances.  
Also the timelines will not match up. Alfred was an intelligence agent in WWII and Marie was a resistance fighter. This will be in the 50s

So please bear with me, an unprofessional writer who has no idea what they are doing.

This is connected to the story but centers on Alfred and Sophie.

…

Chapter 6: Side chapter: Save The Last Dance.

At the beginning of February, on a Saturday Wally marched in Madam Delacour` office with an envelope, which had the Midnight Academy insignia in the corner.

He placed the letter on her desk to which she raised an eyebrow once she noticed it.

"Why do I have an invitation to the national dance competitions in Texas?" Wally asked.

"I believe you and Aria have enough talent and training to win. I hope to hear good things." She said returning to the papers on her desk.

"You`re not coming?" he asked.

"No this is one of the few times I give responsibilities to Kris and Anna. They need the experience of handling children and teens of all ages before they can be the next to take over the studio. Or get married to each other, the looks they share when they think n one is looking are a dead giveaway." She muttered the last sentence under her nose.

"Are you sure you can't come?" The red haired boy asked making Anne Sophie look at him.

"All right, I will accompany you, on one condition…" she trailed off making Wally look at her.

"You and Aria have to learn the new dance routines by the time the tournament begins. And you compete in 4 categories."

Wally`s eyes widened at the challenge. While not unheard off, that would nearly impossible.

"That means foxtrot, mambo, waltz, swing…." She counted off, looking at the boy from the corner of her eyes, expecting for him to back off.

"All right. I`m in." but that was not what she was expecting. After a few seconds of looking at him in surprise which in turn made him stand straighter.

"Then see you in lessons." She told him, and with a nod he went to the empty studio room to practice.

…

In Gotham the front door to Wayne Manor rang and the ever trusted butler Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth went to see who the unknown guest is. When he opened the door he saw Wallace West, Richards` friend and the protégé of the Flash.

"Ah, young Master Wallace. I am afraid Master Richard is not home yet. But you are to wait for him if you wish." He said as he stepped aside to let the young boy inside.

"Thanks Alfred. And I know Dick is not here. I called him last night for a favor." The young boy said making the old butler arch an eyebrow. Looking at the young boy caring the duffle bag, he didn't seem like one who would ask for favors on a whim despite how flighty the young boy acted.

"And may I ask what does the favor entail?' Alfred inquired to prepare himself if it was anything dangerous. Wally set the duffle bag down on the ground, making a soft 'thump' be heard.

"A dark spacious room, devoid of furniture or carpeting." The boy answered looking the butler in the eye, devoid of all jokes.

The British he picked up the duffle bag, and was surprised that it was heavier than he expected. It took him a moment to think of a proper room but soon he gestured for the young boy to follow him.

"Why would you need a dark room he asked?" as the two of them moved through the hallways to the mentioned room.

"Dancing the boy muttered but it was still loud enough for the older man to hear him. That baffled him. Judging by his personality Wallace hardly seemed like one to enjoy something such as dancing.

"I see. Well then we`re nearly there Young master Wallace." He said as they rounded a corner and stopped in front of a pair of quite tall doors. Pushing them open Alfred flicked the nearby switch making the large chandelier. The room resembled a ballroom with the large windows covered by curtains. The floor was smooth with a compass insignia in the center of the floor.

Smiling Wally entered the room.

"This is the smaller ballroom. Not often used because of the main ballroom. Usually meant for small private soirees." Alfred explained as he dropped the duffle bag gently near the wall.

"I hope it is to your liking." He told as the young boy looked around with an awed expression on his face.

"it`s perfect." Wally said as he looked around before rushing to his bag and unzipping it to get something.

"Master Wallace may I enquire why do you need a dark room for dancing?" He asked although he could already guess the answer, he just wanted confirmation from the young boy for his suspicions.

Wally sighed.

"My friend kind of guilt tripped me into going to a dance academy with her. But I don't have the talent she does I have to practice more to keep up with. But the light bothers my eyes when I do practice and can't concentrate. My dance instructor suggested a technique 'shadow dancing' to improve." He explained as he took a pair of shoes and replaced the ones he was wearing.

"I see." Alfred said once again as he shrugged off his jacket.

"Do you mind if I observe Master Wallace? I am quite familiar with that technique." Wally who had by now tied his dance shoes stood up and looked at Alfred in surprise.

"You dance?" he asked to which the butler chuckled.

"Master Wallace, it is expected to be able to do everything so when a young master asks we teach them."

That and it was a nice way to blend in when on a social gathering.

After Wally agreed Alfred stood by the wall observing and voicing in his mistakes with a well trained eye and advice.

But in the aged and knowledgeable eyes of the butler he had an image of a different dancing….

…

Couple. In a framed picture stood on her desk, the picture that later appeared on the front page of the newspapers in Paris.

"Anne Sophie Delacour wins the international dancing competition 1955." Was written in French on the number one newspaper, the article still preserved in a frame on her wall.

Madam Delacour was sitting at her desk, in her office, staring at that particular picture. What no one but her knew was that, the man in the picture dancing with her was not in fact her dance partner.

Her real partner was found in a nearby bar, jacketless and dead drunk. When asked what happened he only said he remembered talking about the competition to someone and waking up. It was presumed he went there after the win to celebrate and had gotten a bit carried away with how much he drank, but she knew Pierre, he had a tendency to hit the bottle before the contest and was usually tipsy when the competition began.

No that man was definitely not Pierre, she would know. Because she remembered it as if it was yesterday.

…..

**Paris - International Dance Competition 7****th**** September 1995.**

Anne Sophie Delacour was usually a cool and collected young woman, who handled everything with the cool grace of a professional.

But today she was not that woman, she was pacing around in her dressing room due to her nervousness waiting for her drunkard of a dance partner Pierre to arrive. They were set to arrive in less than 10 minutes. Where is that god forsaken man?!

Oh when he finally arrives she was going to give him the lecture of the century, along with a nice well deserved slap to knock out the alcohol out of him if he dared to show up drunk.

….

He was running through the alleyways of Paris trying to get away from the Ruslanovich lackeys.

"Таким образом Алексей!"(1) he heard one of them shout and cursed before rounding the corner and looking around, eyes darting around until they settled on the open door of a bar.

Running inside he saw it was quite spacious, but dimly lit and smoky due to the sheer amount of people with cigarettes in it.

"Je dois y aller, ou mon partenaire de danse vais me botter le cul."(2) He heard a young man that looked his age spoke as he slapped a couple of note bills and staggered out the back door.

Quietly he followed him, seeing as he was in no position to walk he spoke up.

"Tenez ami, vous n'êtes pas en état de marcher seul!"(3) he said hoping to look as a concerned friend.

Taking an arm and swinging it over his shoulder he hauled the younger man who was looking at him with hazy eyes.

"Merci." He muttered as they both staggered out the doors.

"Où allez-vous ami?"(3) He asked as the quickly supported the man and they slowly hobbled through the deserted back streets.

"Paris competition international de danse." (4)The man said making him arch an eyebrow. International Dance competiton? And he was dead drunk? He pitied his partner.

"Mais mon partenaire est tout à fait désireux de me crier dessus quand j'y arrive ivre."(5) The man said before his body stiffened and he ran to a nearby trash can and unceremoniously spilled his stomach contents out.

He tried to help him but when he got there he saw that the garcon had passed out. He was about to lift him up when he heard familiar voices belonging to the two Russians that were chasing him.

Racking his brain for an idea his sight fell on the swallow tail tuxedo coat. The black color of it matched his own suit.

Thinking quickly he shrugged his own jacket before taking the man's coat and leaving for the nearby main street breaking in a run when hearing the men approaching.

Finally he saw the arena due to the huge banner that read.

**Concours International de Danse 1955**

Running inside towards he was nearly halted by security but when they saw his suit they let him in.

"Vous êtes assez tard." (6) One security guard told him.

"Je sais." (7)He said giving them a smile before heading down to where the dressing rooms were supposed to be.

…

"Calmez-vous, Pierre sera bientôt là ... si il sait ce qui s `bon pour lui."(8) Anne Marie Spoke to herself while looking , more like glaring at her reflection in the mirror.

Pierre was late, very late.

Suddenly she heard the door open and close in hurry. She spun around to lecture.

"Avez-vous une idée de comment ..."(9) she froze in her tracks when she saw the person who was pressing themselves against the door due to her shouting at them was not in fact Pierre.

He may not have been Pierre but he certainly was dashing. Dark hair, as black as a ravens wing and clean shaven face with piercing blue eyes that seemed as if were knowledgeable of your deepest secrets.

When he saw she had shut up he leaned next to the door and started peeking cautiously out of it.

That was when she decided to speak up.

"Qui êtes-vous? Et où est-Pierre? "(10) She asked in her home language.

"He is currently indisposed." The stranger spoke and she was about ask what that meant when heavy footsteps sounded down the hall and harsh whispers in what appeared to be Russian.

The young man before her froze up in what she saw as panic. Thinking quickly she pushed him next to the door, by the wall so whoever enters will not see him. The coat rack that was filled to the brim with coats and jackets kept him mostly hidden as well.

She went back to the vanity in the room, threw on the robe she wore to cover her dress and waited. Mere moments later a thunderous knock sounded on her door. She passed the short distance and opened it revealing two burly men in striped suits.

"Oui? Puis-je vous aider?"(11) She asked in French making the two men look conflicted for a second before the shorter on held up a picture. It was of a man, his face half hidden in the shadow of the fedora he wore. But that one eye that was in the light had a piercing blue quality that she had seen not even five minutes ago.

The man holding the picture asked in broken English with a heavy Russian accent.

"Have you seen this man?" the shorter one asked.

She took her time to seemingly inspect the foto before answering.

"I have never seen that man in my life." She spoke in a heavy French accent while shaking her head to make her answer more believable.

The men frowned before leaving without a word. She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Not even saying sorry for the intrusion. The nerve." She muttered as she approached the vanity and finished up her make up that had gotten a bit ruined while she worried for Pierre.

In the mirror she saw the young man move away from his hiding place behind the door. Acting nonchalant she asked.

"Now who are you?" she asked this time in perfect English, the French accent only making the words come out as a purr.

The man froze and turned to stare at her in bewilderment.

"You can…" he trailed off and so she turned around and finished for him.

"Speak and understand English perfectly? Mai oui, bien sur." she smirked at his stunned expression.

"Now, will you answer my question of who you are or not? And if you keep your mouth open anymore longer, flies will come in." she commented as she turned back towards the mirror.

He smiled, she licked to tease him.

"I am your replacement dance partner since your previous partner is indisposed." He said a bit too quickly and he himself inwardly cringed due to the big lie he spoke.

She gave no indication of sensing his lie.

"Really, then you must know that the Saint Margareta Dance Academy has a policy against switching partners…" she trailed of before quickly turning towards him again, and this time she had a Beretta 3032 pocket pistol in her hand pointed at him.

"So I will ask again. Who are you and what do two Russian want with you and why do they want you?"

Despite being held at gun point the young man smiled at her. While any other ordinary girl would be brought down to her knees from the smile alone. But Anne Sophie Delacour was no ordinary girl.

So the most she felt from the smile was irritation that he thought she would fall for that.

"I am afraid I cannot give my real name but please call me James. "The now named James spoke with a quite attractive British accent. He took a step forward but quickly stepped back s

When she tightened her grip on the gun.

"Very well then, James. Where is Pierre?" his face took on a confused expression so she cleared it up.

"The man whose coat you`re wearing." To that he answered immediately.

"Passed out drunk." She quickly swore.

"Goddammit! I knew he would." While she was cursing her grip on the gun loosened as her attention on the man was diverted to swearing about Pierre. Then James quickly lunged forward and expertly disarmed her. In a moment the gun was gone from her hands and into his.

"Now why don't we put that away and have a nice conversation that does not include firepower in it." He said putting the pistol in his pocket.

"You want to talk? Fine. What do the Russian mobsters want with you?" she asked, a tone of hostility in her voice.

"Well, lets see now. I`m British, I work for MI6 and I may have acquired some top secret information from then over the years." He said leaning back on the wall and shrugging as if he spoke about the weather.

Anne Sophie stared at him, speechless at his nonchalant behavior.

"Well that's all nice and well but what are we going to do about the fact that my partner is missing and I got a performance in…" she trailed of as she glanced at the clock.

"Two minutes!?" she exclaimed in panic. What was she going to do now? This was the international Finale she would make a laughing stock out of herself! What the hell was she going to do!

A hand placing itself on her shoulder brought her out of her panic attack. She looked at the hand then at its owner and her green eyes met piercing blue.

"Calm yourself Madam." he said probably trying to calm her down.

She quickly pulled him down to sit in front of the mirror, scooped a handful of gel and plopped it on his head before combing it back to make a sleek hairstyle. She had no other choice.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she finished and wiped her hands clean of the residue gel.

"Since I don't have a dance partner and you owe me for hiding you, you will dance with me instead of Pierre." She said and surprisingly he did not object. Possibly because he figured she was right about owing her. Not to say that she was a hundred percent agreeable with this.

No Anne had her doubts, in fact she was doubting herself, what would happen if the judges found out? She would be disqualified for sure! But then looked at the clock that was ticking away and officially threw the doubt out the window. If she quit now it would haunt her forever.

So taking a deep breath she placed her hand in his and they dashed towards the arena.

…..

They were waiting for the Italian couple to finish their Latina dance.

"And now Miss Anne Sophie Delacour and her partner Pierre Garson representing France." The announcer spoke.

"I hope you know the tango." She muttered looking at him.

James only smiled before taking her hand as the music started and expertly leading her through the steps. His movement was professional, well practiced, without a single mistake. She was greatly surprised, so much in fact that the only thing that kept her from stumbling was the experience that came through years of practice and the fact that she refused to humiliate herself by tripping.

"How did you get this good?" she asked as they got to the dip. The smirk he sent her made even her cheeks color.

"Shadow dancing." He muttered against her ear as he pulled her up and they continued the routine.

"I`ve only heard of that technique but never knew anyone who was using it." She said and his eyes told her the problem that particular technique gave.

"All you heard about it is relatively true. Quite difficult, especially for those with a weak stomach. But might I know how you deducted they were Russian mobsters?" He spoke as they danced around.

"Well quite simple. First was their accent. Second, their guns were on their waist and not in holsters like detectives and police officers. That means they didn't want their guns to be noticed. And finally they were using an expensive brand of cologne; a normal police or even detective would not be able to afford it. My father used to be a detective, I would lie if I said I did not pick up a few things." She said smirking at his surprised expression. He lowered her for another dip, his hand on her back leaving pleasant tingles where it brushed.

"What a woman." She heard his slightly breathy whisper. Looking him in the eye she smiled.

"Don`t you forget that." That made him laughs.

By now the crowd was going wild, cameras were flashing people were applauding. As soon as the music ended a thunderous applause roared around the arena. Flowers were thrown and Anne Marie and James bowed to the audience.

As a little girl came and handed her a bouquet and another the small trophy to James.

"And the winners of the 1955 International Dance competition are Anne Sophie and Pierre!" the voice was heard and the applause got even louder if that was possible.

After they had retreated back in the dressing room she pulled behind the room divider to get out of her dancing clothes.

"Thank you for dancing. Now there`s only one thing left to do here." She said.

"And what is that?" he asked which made her head poke out from behind the divider wall, her long blonde hair falling down in ringlets due to being in a bun for so long.

"Why getting you out safely of course." She said. Smirking at him before going back to finish dressing.

A moment later she emerged in a grey full skirt that was paired with a soft angora sweater and a black silk scarf wrapped around her delicate neck. Her slightly curly hair framed her face and fell to the middle of her back now tied in a low pony tail with a small ribbon.

She went over to the over used coat rack and pulled out a black trench coat from the numerous clothing items there. She walked over to James and placed the coat over him to see it would fit.

Satisfied with the results she passed him the coat in a silent order to put it on.

Deciding it would be best to do what she said he shrugged off the swallow tail jacket before the trench coat covered his form.

"There all ready to go." She said as she herself threw on a red coat and gloves. "Now let me get you out of here."

She pulled him out the room and through the hallways. Just as they were exiting the arena she wrapped her arms around his left one and leaned her head so it was supported by his shoulder singe he was a bit taller than her.

They walked out of the arena and no one batted an eyelash at them. The two shared a look before laughing silently at their success.

James turned to her and bowed.

"Well Madam it has been an honor to be able to dance with someone as talented as yourself. I hope our paths cross again sometimes."

Sophie chuckled.

"I hope so too as well. Well than Au revoir James." She said but before she could walk away a hand grabbing her arm and pulling her back against a body she danced the tango with stopped her.

Looking at his mischievously twinkling eyes she saw his lips move in a quiet whisper.

"There is just one thing I wanted to say." He muttered.

"What?" she asked and got her answer as a pair of lips closed over hers.

Her eyes which had widen slightly fluttered shut as the kiss lasted on.

When they separated both had half lidded eyes.

James simply nodded to her which she returned and then walked their separate ways.

Only when she got back to her home and leaned on the door she had locked did she allow herself to collapse to her knees with a mad blush on her face.

…..

The elderly lady chuckled at the memory as she sat at her desk, holding the framed picture.

It felt nice to remember, after all those years.

…

AN: Sorry for the wait here is what the foreign sentences mean.

That way Aleksej.

I have to go, or my dance partner'll kick my ass.

Hold friend, you are not able to walk alone!

Thank You.

Where are you going friend?

Paris International Dance Competition.

But my partner is quite eager to yell at me when I get drunk.

You are quite late.

I know.

Calm down, Peter will be here soon ... if he knows what`s good for him.

Do you have any idea how...?

Who are you? And where is Peter?

Yes? Can I help you?

Yes, quite well.


	7. Chapter 7 Dancing your heart out

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

Wow 15 reviews. Hmmm. I`ll take em. So here is the next chapter. We finally get to the origin story of both Wally and Aria.

Chapter 7: Dancing your heart out

Aria was worried for Wally. Her best friend was so tried lately, he fell asleep in a few classes. He even got a B on his science test. A B? Wally?! That was not like him. Numerous thoughts rushed through her head as she sat in her seat for the last period for the day. She glanced to her left, seeing the aforementioned boy who had his head slumped on the desk, his eyes closed and mouth slightly opened as he softly snored. Despite the worry she was feeling, her cheeks warmed and her face softened as she gazed at the peaceful expression the sleeping 12 year old preteen had on his face.

'He`s kinda cute like that.' A tiny voice in her head whispered. But before she could berate herself, the bell rang and her train of thought was interrupted. She walked over to his desk and started shaking him so he would get up and they could walk home. She started gently at first, but when he wouldn`t budge she started shaking him with more force. But he still didn`t get up. Finally fed up her plan wasn`t working she thought of another angle. Smirking she went over and started shaking him again but this time when she heard him groan she spoke.

"Come on Walls. School ended and it`s Friday. We can stop by the park on the way home for ice cream."

Even though it was March, it was warm enough for an icy treat. Hearing the offer for the delicious frozen creamy dessert made Wally jump up quicker than any other alarm clock ever did.

"I`m up! I`m up!" he said and packed his textbooks and other things in super speed before dragging Aria for the chance to get ice cream.

As they strolled down their way home, they stopped by the ice cream parlor. Wally had a two scoops of double fudge while Aria had a single scoop of raspberry.

With the ice cream in hand they headed towards the park. The day was sunny and the park was a nice place to walk through.

They threw the trash in nearby bins once they were done then headed home.

A couple of hours later Aria was tying the lasses of her dancing shoes. Once she was done she followed out towards the studio with the other children. After the basic stretching was done Madame Delacour spoke.

"All right children. Now as you know one of the most important dance tournaments is approaching. For that reason we will practice all the dances, one by one. You can choose which dance to start with but finish all of them before the end of class or you will be staying to finish them. Now begin!" she said rapping her can on the ground as Anna turned on the music and a lively melody started playing.

Wally automatically took lead as the music blared to life.

As they were dancing in their own space on the studio dance floor they had a little conversation.

"So how has your other hobby been so far?" Aria asked as they swayed.

"Good, can`t complain. Uncle Barry loves to crack jokes about it." He said as they switched to quick step.

"Any new friends?" she asked as he twirled her.

"Well Aqualad is nice, stoic but nice. He reminds me a bit of Colin. And then there`s Speedy. He`s Green Arrows protégé. He doesn`t like being called a sidekick. He`s the eldest of us all so we joke like he` a big brother figure." Wally said as they moved to swing.

"How`s Rob doing?"Aria asked, curious how their mutual mischievous friend.

"Good, saw him two weeks ago fighting the Ridler. And how are you controlling that telepathy?"

"Better than last week when I blew up four out of five apples while trying to levitate them." She said as them moved.

"Really?" he asked, happy for her progress.

"Yeah, I only blew up three this time." She said making them chuckle.

"Is it really that hard?" he asked as he gave her another twirls.

"Well it is. How would you feel if Barry told you to run at a specific speed? Not over or under the limit and you can`t stop yourself from speeding over the limit sometimes."

Wally winced at that description.

"I get it now."

What the two of them didn`t notice was that they were dancing completely in sync. They were just finishing with Wally dipping Aria as the music came to a stop.

The thing that surprised them was the sudden applause that echoed around the studio.

They turned to see Madame Delacour smiling, not that little tilt of lips but an actual smile.

"Magnifique. Wally, Aria. Keep that up and you are guaranteed to win at our next competition. For that stunning performance, class is dismissed early. See you at the next lesson.

As they left to the dressing room Aria had a thoughtful expression on her face. When Wally led the dance with no hesitation what so ever she could feel the slight contours of lean muscles on his torso. All that running his uncle was making him do must be paying off.

A blush came to her face as she remembered being pressed against him. Suddenly she shook her head. Why was she blushing? Wally was her best friend since she was six so why would she blush?

Shaking her head again as to get rid of such thoughts she hurried to get dressed in her casual clothes before leaving the dressing room to see Wally leaning on the wall in the hallway, waiting for her.

"Ready to go?" He asked with that goofy smile on his face. She returned it with one of her own.

"Yeah, let's go." She said and the two walked out of the building.

They continued to walk down the street towards the bus stop. He grabbed her hand when they reached the pedestrian crossing, she tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach. It was just a reaction to the dance. They always held hands when crossing the street. Nothing else. Right?

…. …. …. …. ….

Summer was almost there and most kids were buzzing in their seats for the last days of school to end. But for Aria and Wally school was already over and summer had begun. Because they were in a bus with children of all ages and were heading a small town in Texas where the first round of the annual dance competition.

The fun part was that they were spending the three days in a horse ranch and were going to partake in horseback riding lessons. When Madame Delacour had mentioned that all of the older kids had groaned.

When Wally asked why they groaned Kris explained why.

Apparently last time they went to the ranch almost all of the kids ended up being dropped in the mud by their horses.

Wally and Aria had then subtly high fived each other since they had an Ace up their sleeves.

They couldn`t wait until they got to the ranch and make the jaws of their dance mates drop.

…. …. …. …. ….

The competition had been a piece of cake and had passed in the blink of an eye. The real fun began the next day on their well deserved two week pause before the second half of the competition on the ranch.

The day they arrived at the ranch and settled in the kids went over to the coral where they were about to get to ride the horses.

Wally and Aria both decided on wearing jeans and boots with T-shirts. Aria had her hair in a pony tail.

When all the kids gathered around Wally and Aria burst out laughing at how the older ones got themselves clothed in various protective gear. Helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, there was even a football helmet and one even made a pillow vest by using duck tape to tape two pillows together to cover his back and front of his torso. And they looked absolutely ridiculous. Safe to say Both Wally and Aria had a nice laugh.

They were paired, two kids per horse. And while the other children were trying to steer their horses, Wally approached one of the horses without saddles.

"Be careful there fella, you might…" A young employee that was near the gate saw him and called out to stop Wally only to see the thirteen year old quickly approach the horse then grab it by the mane and climb and start riding.

"…fall." The man finished with his eyes widened in surprise. Wally smirked.

"Watch her." He said pointing towards Aria.

She had also approached a non saddled horse and even faster than Wally got on the creature`s back and was riding it towards her friend.

When she finally got to them she simply jumped down before the employee.

"Well I'll be damned." The cowboy said before grinning at Wally and Aria.

"You can go right ahead and lead them away, as soon as you attach saddles to`em. I recon you can do that all by yourselves?" he asked to which he got a nod from both of them.

As soon both horses had the saddles and anything else they needed both teenagers started to slowly at first lead them away, leaving the other kids with dropped jaws, and Madame Delacour with a smile that was concealed behind the cup of tea she was having while sitting aside and watching the ordeal.

"Can we go for a ride further away?" Aria asked the employee.

"Sure ya can. As long as you stay within the ranch property, which is marked by a fence."

Since the employee gave them the okay both kids snapped the reign on their horses which made them gallop away leaving two dust trails.

As they continued to gallop Aria could not resist but sing.

When the cold wind's a a-calling  
And the sky is clear and bright  
Misty mountains sing and beckon,  
Lead me out into the light

Strangely her voice carried through the air so even Wally could hear it. He closed his eyes for a second, letting the voice of his best friend and the wind whistling fill his ears.

I will ride, I will fly  
Chase the wind and touch the sky  
I will fly  
Chase the wind and touch the sky

Aria managed to coax her horse to approach and then pass Wally and his horse. Seeing that as a challenge the red haired boy started coaxing the horse to go faster.

Where dark woods hide secrets  
And mountains are fierce and bold  
Deep waters hold reflections  
Of times lost long ago

I will hear their every story  
Take hold of my own dream  
Be as strong as the seas are stormy  
And proud as an eagle's scream

He managed to tie with Aria. As they continued to ride side by side Aria reached for the hair tie and pulled on it freeing her hair from its pony tail and letting it wave in the wind in raven strands.

I will ride, I will fly  
Chase the wind and touch the sky  
I will fly  
Chase the wind and touch the sky

And touch the sky  
Chase the wind, chase the wind  
Touch the sky

She finished off as she shared a look with Wally and they continued to ride onward until the boarders of the branch.

It was going to be a great two week vacation here.

…. …. …. …. ….

Sadly their vacation ended soon and they were headed to Florida where the next round was held. This time they spent less time resting since there was actual competition there but in the end both Aria and Wally managed to win in their age group. A week later they were at the next and final location in a medium coast town California.

The finals were being held there. Wally repressed a shiver as a wave of excitement and nervousness hit him. It was his and Aria`s turn now and he was almost shaking like a leaf. What if he tripped, or missed a step or god forbid fell?

Suddenly he felt a hand on each face cheek and saw that Aria was holding his head and making him look her in the eye.

"Relax, just look me in the eyes and we`ll do just fine." As those words left her mouth he felt himself calm down. He inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before quietly saying.

"Thank you." It was so quiet, barely a whisper. But she heard it and smiled at him.

"Don`t mention it." At that point Kris had called for them and they rushed to the dance floor, so they could start dancing the next round.

(AN: if you want to listen with music, search Sing sing sing-Benny Goodman)

Once the music to a cheerful swing dance began to play Wally grinned at Aria before he started twirling her. He looked at her as if she was the only person on the dance floor with him. She did not know how, but despite not paying any attention they did not crash into any other couple on the dance floor since Wally seemed to pull them out of collision route just seconds before they crashed. A blush was clear on her face as she was dipped at the ending of the melody. The audience had already by then stood up as they applauded.

When they reached back stage Madame Delacour smiled.

"Could not be better."She said with a proud look on her face.

The two children had beamed at her, as the others came to dance their turn with their age group.

When they were waiting for the winners to be announced their instructor whispered to them.

"Whatever happens, you have already won in my case." Then the announcer was heard.

"And in 1st place of the 12-14 age group division are…" he paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"….Wallace West and Aria McNeil. With the swing dance style!"

The kids around the two winners burst in cheers, and once the fact that they won finally sunk in Wally and Aria looked at each other for a brief moment before hugging each other as they jumped up and down.

"We won, we won!" Wally chanted, but was stopped when Madame Delacour pushed them towards the spotlight. Motioning for them to go, and so they did. The announcer gave them trophies, along with a bouquet of white roses.

The audience cheered as the announcer spoke.

"Well that concludes the twelve to fourteen age division. Now onto the next one."

But by now they both had tuned the man out because there was only one thing on their minds right now.

They had done it. They had won.

…. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It was the last day with the dance crew and they had decided to go to the beach. For the whole day, from dawn until dusk. The eldest were in charge of the youngest, until they went to sleep, after that they got free reign until they decided to retire for the night.

Once the suns set they set up fire wood for a bonfire. Wally was found sitting near it, gazing as the flames licked the wooden logs.

"How do you feel?" he turned and saw Aria sit down next to him.

"Like I beat my arch nemesis. You know like Batman with Joker." He spoke to which she nodded, but then said in a teasing tone.

"Never knew that dancing was your arch nemesis." She said making him chuckle.

"Not dancing, well it is dancing, but dancing in front of people. Every time we have another competition I get less and less afraid." She shot him an incredulous look that did not go unnoticed.

"I know, I know. Me, Kid Flash afraid of performing in front of clouds." He sighed.

"But unlike Kid flash, Wally west is not anonymous. If Kid Flash does something silly and trips or something, people will laugh about and then forget. But if Wally West messes up, they will always remind him of it." Aria patted his shoulder, making him look at her.

"Hey, come on don't be like that. I`ll tease you whether you are Kid Flash or Wally either way." She said making him laugh and nod.

That's when they saw Kris take out an old boom box and pressed play, which made music flood the area.

Wally took Aria`s hand and pulled her to where the kids were dancing.

It was a great summer so far and the best part was it was just beginning.

…. …. …. …. ….

The McNeal family had made it a tradition to bring Wally with them to Ireland every summer since he tamed Thunder. The now young stallion got very attached to Wally. It was funny to see how a horse that used to growl when anyone approach him, neigh in happiness once he saw the red haired.

At first the young colt had a stubborn friendship. He would follow after Wally and when the ginger turned he would act disinterested. But that stubborn had grown to the horse nuzzling the 13 year old boy.

"Down boy down. I`ll be here the whole summer." Wally said as he patted Thunder on the neck.

"You better get your stuff to your room." Aria told him and he nodded.

Another thing that changed, Wally had gotten a room of his own in the old mansion when he turned ten.

Aria still held her promise and wore her emerald green ribbon for the whole summer.

The boys then gathered around Wally and Aria who told them about their time with their dance friends.

"And when I finally climb on the horse without a saddle his jaw falls down!" Wally finishes telling the story making Arias cousins and brothers burst out laughing at the expense of the farm hand from Texas.

"that`s what he gets!" Cody said as he whipped the laugh endused tears form his eyes. The kids are hanging out together before dinner, but Malcolm is not present.

Looking for his older brother, he finds him at the fence talking to the girl he brought home for dinner. Cody would have snorted, but he himself also brought someone as well. He looked at the red head standing a bit away from Malcolm and his girlfriend, and a pair of thin glasses perched upon her nose, her hair in a low pony tail with a few crimson locks framing her face. He smiled at the adorable blush on her cheeks.

Scarlet had been shy at first when he had asked her out, but that was nothing compared to the shyness she exhibited when he asked her to accompany him to his family dinner.

Approaching her he noticed his cousins and Wally following after him. Walking next to his girlfriend and swung an arm around her shoulder, grinning once he saw the blush on her pale cheeks.

"Lads.."He began."..and lassie" he corrected when he saw Aria glare at him.

"This is my girlfriend Scarlet." His mentioned girlfriend shyly waved her hand in a greeting before the silence was broken by Aria.

"She`s pretty Cody." Scarlet blushed a … well scarlet color due to the compliment bestowed upon her from his baby cousin.

Then Aria spoke again, in turn the calm down the girl whose face was the same shade as a tomato.

"Why don`t I take Scarlet and Malcolm's girlfriend with me so I can help grandma? Dinner is almost ready.

Nodding Cody let his baby cousin lead the girls away, once she managed to make Malcolm and his girl stop sucking faces. He chuckled at the irony of the situation.

…. …. …. …. ….

Scarlett admitted, she was nervous at first. Cody was a sweet heart and a gentleman, what if his family didn't like her. But now as she stood in the kitchen wearing a borrowed apron and stirring an absolutely heavenly smelling stew she realized she had nothing to fear.

Aria was an angel of a kid, and she could sing like one if the melodious humming Scarlet was hearing was any clue. The child had seen her nervousness saying the woman of the family would make her feel as if she was part of it for years.

And she was right. Katherine, or Nana as Aria called her grandmother was glad to see her nephew bring a date home. She was currently checking on all the meat to see if it was cooked, fired or roasted.

Bridgette, Cody`s mother was ecstatic her boy finally brought home a girl. She gave the blushing girl a hug and went to get her an apron. She was currently making large amounts of fired vegetables and rice.

Momoko, Aria`s mother, who Scarlet learned was Japanese, a petite woman. She was mixing spices and sauces as a pro.

Aria was currently frying a huge portion of what appeared to be sliced mushrooms.

Gwen, Malcolm`s girlfriend for two years was in charge of setting the table and the drinks.

When the three of them entered the kitchen Scarlet thought the food was almost done.

She was still surprised by the huge amounts.

"Isn't this a bit much?" She asked which made all the women in the room, including Aria before busting in laughter as if she told a joke.

Nana spoke while whipping her eyes where tears had leaked out from the nice hearty laughter.

"Trust me the men here eat as if they posses multiple stomachs." Momoko said and all females in the room nodded their heads at the truth of her words.

"Especially Wally." Aria said, still giggling from the laugh attack, that caused another round of laughter to erupt.

"And yet we still love them."Bridgette said as all of them nodded with smiles on their faces.

When they were finished and called the men for dinner it was as if a stampede was approaching the house.

Both Edward and Shamus sat at the ends of the table with their wives on their left then children from oldest to youngest from the right down the table. If any of the children brought a date they were seated next to them and the younger sibling on the other seat. Since Wally was a guest he and aria sat near the end of the table on her grandfather's right.

Once they were all seated it was like a war path, the boys fighting with their utensils for the piece of food they wanted. Poor Scarlet, she looked too terrified to reach for a bowl of food. Even Gwen who had been here twice before looked unsure.

Nonchalantly Aria nodded to her mother who with catlike grace took a bowl of food from the table and passed it around to the bewildered girls with an understanding smile.

Wally in the meantime was finding a way to talk to Aria while he was eating and she nodded and responded as if she could understand him. Then again after being friends with him for more than half her life it wouldn`t be surprising. Still, it was a funny sight to watch.

…. …. …. …. …. ….

After dinner Wally and Aria told the family about their first place achievement. Nana clapped her hands at that.

"Oh! Why don't you show us one dance? You can use one of the old vinyl records we have. They should still work." She had a smile on her face as she reminiscent .

The old records were soon found and a song that Wally and Aria was chosen. 'Jail house Rock' was a clasic and a great tune to swing to. Aria`s cousins and brothers helped to move the furniture in the living room to make space for dancing and even judges were chosen. The eldest of each generation, Nana, her son Connor and Malcolm. The rest were the audience.

Wally and Aria got in position as Nana placed the record on the gramophone and started it up. The first few seconds were a slow beat before speeding up. There were twists and turns and dips and flips. Wally and Aria moved to the music in a way that left the family speechless. The dance ended with the two of them bowing to their small audience as the last note faded. Everyone started clapping and cheering. Safe to say all the judges gave them a ten.

Cranking up the gramophone Nana put on a slow beat song while looking at her husband. Seeing the look his wife was giving him Edward pulled her into a slow dance, Connor and Bridgette soon following and Shamus and Momoko joining in. Soon five couples were dancing while looking at each other.

Feeling like he was going to gag at the sheer mushiness that filled the room Wally spoke to Aria.

"Want to go to the woods?" he was answered with a nod, even Aria though she found it quite romantic, didn't want to be stuck here.

As they ran to the forest Aria noticed Wally had beaten her in record time. When she finally arrived she told him.

"That was fast! I think you broke your record." He grinned at her with that smile. They walked together until they arrived to the huge tree. And once they stopped Wally asked something he had been wondering for a while.

"So how are your powers progressing?" he asked looking at Aria.

"Well, I`ve been doing better. Can use simple spells…" she stopped when she heard Wally snort.

"What?" she asked.

"There is no such thing as magic." Wally said as if explaining to a child.

"And why not?" Aria asked, getting irritated.

"Well it`s obvious people used to think that science was magic, like alchemists."

"What about the Philosophers Stone?" she asked

"They just plated them with gold, even Aztecs could do it in ancient times."

"And Aquaman and Atlantis?" Aria was getting noticeably more and more angry.

"Mutation to breathe and live under water, and advanced technology."Wally dismissed it.

"So you don`t believe in magic? At all?" her face was eerily calm.

"that`s right." Wally said while crossing his arms and closing his eyes, which made him miss the livid expression on her face.

"Well then, you can take your science and shove it!" she yelled out before running back towards the house.

Seeing that he went too far Wally`s expression changed to a worried one. He ran after her, not noticing he wasn't speeding.

…. …. …. …. ….

Aria sat in her room as the noon sun peaked into the room from her open window. She hadn't spoken to Wally for the rest of the night and beginning of the next day. He was such a dummy sometimes.

Deciding she needed a nice ride she left her room and headed straight towards the horse stables where Azure was.

Approaching the mare she gave her a pat on the nose before placing the saddle and reigns on her and steering her to gallop towards the woods.

After several minutes she decided to stop by a creek. She took the reins off Azure, took off her shoes and dipped her feat in the rippling water. A sigh escaped her lips as the cool water soothed her feet and relaxed her from the tension she had been feeling from the argument. Looking up at the summer sky, she took a deep breath. And started singing.

(**AN**: this is a tweaked version of Pocahontas` Colors of the wind.)

You think that I am just a naïve child,

And you know so many, I guess it must be so.

But if you walk the road of fantasy and wonder,

You`ll find proof you never knew but should have known.

You think the land we walk on is a dead thing,

The Earth is just land that people claim.

But I know every river, tree and place,

Have life, and a spirit with a name.

Have you ever heard a wolfs howl to the full blue moon,

And known he is howling from loneliness?

Can you see the creatures just as same as I do?

Can you sing with all the spirits of the wind?

You think that the children who believe in faries,

Are hopeless childish and wrong.

But I still cannot see if the hopeless one is me,

Don`t you know that believing in them makes them strong?

Have you ever heard the dryad singing in the woods,

Or listen to the selkie laugh at sea?

Can`t you see the spirits soaring through the clouds?

Can`t you sing with all the spirits of the wind?

Can`t you sing with all the spirits of the wind?

Would you listen to me please?

Cause you`ll believe it when you see.

Can`t you sing with all the spirits of the wind?"

Her voice died down and the forest became silent once more. All the forest life had gravitated towards her. Birds perched on the nearest trees, a few deep peaking through the trees, bunnies and even nearby plants stretched towards her.

Aria sighed, her anger at her best friend replaced by guilt.

"Maybe I should apologize. After all he believes in his stuff, and I believe in mine."

Nodding to herself she got on azure again and rode back to the house.

Behind her an ethereal voice that blended with the wind whispered.

"Be blessed child."

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Wally was sitting on the grassy ground with thunder next to him. He had been sitting there since breakfast finished. A toubled expression marred his face.

"I mean I didn't mean to offend her, it`s just if something doesn't have a logical explanation I don`t believe in it. You understand, right?" he asked turning to Thunder who just snorted and turned his head away, clearly annoyed by Wally`s ranting.

"Oh come on! I need advise here!" Wally cried out.

He was about to continue to talk to the black coated steed when someone called his name.

"Wally!"

He turned and saw Aria galloping towards him on Azure.

She showed down to a trot, then got off Azure to face him. Suddenly she was bowing in a ninety degree angle.

"I`m sorry!" She said. He just blinked at her in confusion.

"What?" Was all he was able to utter.

"I shouldn't have gotten angry at you. I`m sorry for avoiding you"

"I`m sorry too." He said looking at his feet who were digging the tips of his sneakers in the grass.

"I shouldn't mock what you believe in. Especially since you respect what I do believe in."

Aria grinned and held out her hand.

"Let's agree to disagree? And exchange banter when we do?" giving her a grin back he took her hand in his.

"Deal." And gave it a shake.


	8. Chapter 8 What is this feeling?

I **do ****not** own Young Justice. If I did then Wally would have lived.

**AN**: this chapter takes about 10 or 11 months after the previous.

Chapter 8: What is this feeling?

"Now Wally, Aria. Since you won this year's competition you also get to learn a new type of dance. You will be learning the Tango De La Roxanne. And you will be in need of tutors. That is why I have asked Kristian and Annabel to teach you. They will teach you, both separately and together, once a week until you master the dance." And with that the elderly woman left the teens with the young adults in the studio dance room.

"We`re not dancing together?" Aria asked looking at her best friend for eight years. The pair of fourteen year olds were confused.

"We`re not going to have to dance that in public anytime soon, right?" Wally asked, remembering the way Anna and Kris moved when they saw them dance in that competition a long time ago. Aria had a scarlet blush staining her cheeks at that point. Kris chuckled at that point.

"Relax, it took a while for me and Anna to learn that dance and we were a year older when we started. You guys will have a solid year or two before you could consider performing it. We just thought it would be for the best if you learned the dance. At first we`ll teach you separately, one week I'll teach Aria while Anna teaches Wally and the next week we`ll switch with Anna teaching Aria and Me teaching Wally. Once a month we`ll teach you together as to see how much progress you`ve made." Kris explained as he and Anna moved to the center of the dance floor.

"First you need to know is that tango originates from Argentina, thus the name Argentinean Tango. It is a Latin dance which means the two parties are extremely close to each other. You have to be very close together, so close that your bodies press together.

Giving a signal to Wally who pressed the start button on the music player, Kris and Anna got in position just as the first few sounded off. And as the dance began it was as if there was a story to be told by simply watching the young couple dance. Passion, betrayal, anger yearning. All those emotions displayed though facial expressions and body language while not a single word was spoken.

Needless to say that both preteens had pretty violent blushes by the time both of the senior dancer finished the routine.

"Okay, kids your turn." The heard Kris and Anna speak and turning to see the standing in front of them.

The looked at each other before awkwardly trying to get in position while keeping their bodies as far away as possible.

Sharing a mischievous look between themselves Kris and Anna approached the preteens.

"Now kids this is tango, not waltz. So you need to be pressed together." He chirped and suddenly pushed their bodies together making them jerk in shock. Their faces were fire engine red all the way to the tips of their hair. Wally refused to make eye contact with Aria and was instead looking up in a random direction, while Aria was staring at the ground or would`ve if their chests weren't pressed together.

Aria could feel Wally`s slightly hard chest under his T-shirt just as Wally could feel Aria`s soft curves against his body.

"Come on, we don`t have all day!" Kris` voice broke them out of their stupor.

Reluctantly Wally and Aria began to imitate the steps their mentors had performed. The bushes on their faces did not fade for the entire dance practice.

Both of them nearly cried in relief when Kris told them class was finished. Not looking at each other, they rushed towards the dressing rooms.

The two older students looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

….. …. …. …. …. …

It was safe to say the walk back home was very awkward. The two of them kept sneaking glances at one another.

"Well, at least we are going to the water park tomorrow." Aria said trying to break the silence.

Wally perked up at that, the annual Aqua Park visit where his and Aria`s family went for the parents to relax and the kids to go on some awesome water rides. Usually after that Wally and the McNeil family would pack up and go to Ireland. Yes it was a day to relax, just nothing but water rides, giant flotation devices, fast food and lots and lots of cute girls in swimsuits. Wally was aware he had started to pay more and more attention to girls lately, but hey he was a teenager. It`s what teenage boys did.

"Yeah, it`s going to be great." He told Aria.

….. …. …. …. …. …. ….

It was going to be horrible. There he was, just changed in his swimming boxers waiting for Aria to show up since she was the last one to use the changing room. And currently Wally was feeling as if he was tortured in a very cruel and unusual way. He, a hormonal boy in puberty who was waiting for his friend to leave the changing room while a thousand (well not thousand, but close to that) girls were walking around in all kinds of swimsuits.

There were the cutesy ones that had the bottom of the swimsuit modified to look like a really short skirt. The ones that had frills accentuating their bathing wear. And those that were older who chose a bit more daring attire to lessen the tan line areas on their bodies, those with strips of fabric that didn`t even cover half what the usual suits did. To those Wally out right turned away so a blush that would make his hair pale in comparison would not appear.

I mean he was a young healthy albeit a bit hyperactive fourteen year old boy, it was completely normal for him to…..

"Wally?" a voice sounded behind him as the door of the changing room opened and he turned to speak to Aria, only to have his words lodged up in his throat.

There was Aria in a two piece red swimsuit. It had a top that looked like a sports bra and was complimented by a pair of matching boy shorts as the bottom piece. Her naturally milky white skin was showing, and he never noticed that even though she spent most of her time outside in the sun, she never seemed to tan. Suddenly Wally felt the urge to cover her with the light short sleeved button up shirt he brought.

Pushing the feeling away he sent her his usual cheerful grin and spoke.

"Finally. Come on slowpoke, I bet everyone`s already at the tables." He said as he grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the direction he saw their families head out.

"Well we can`t all be as fast as you." She told him as they navigated through the dozens upon dozens of tables.

"Yeah, I`m the fastest kid there is." He commented as they both chuckled at the hidden meaning behind those words.

Finally they arrived to the few tables that their families. That's right, tables. There was the first one where his and Aria`s parents along with Aria and his Uncle and Aunt sat. Then there was the second where Collin and Brandon with the girlfriends Gina and Stella sat. The young couples wanted privacy, and a separate table was the most private they could be in a water park. And on the final table there were Duncan, Jimmy and where the two of them were sitting as well. Duncan and Jimmy were both away and seemed to be flirting with a pair of twins a little away.

Sighing he started applying sunscreen to himself, he forgot to get one while he waited for aria and his mother was firm on him avoiding sunburn despite his accelerated healing factor. Even if he had the regeneration factor of a starfish, he doubted she would ease up in her protective prowess.

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around he saw Aria holding a SPF 50 sun screen.

"Could you help me? I can`t reach my back." She asked handing him the bottle before turning her back to him.

As he squeezed out a generous amount into his hand before moving to apply it to his best friends back.

'_Just my luck.'_ He thought as he hoped Aria wouldn`t turn around and see the blush on his face.

…. …. …. …. …. ….

Aria somehow managed to hide her blush, when Wally was applying sun screen to his chest. She knew he was fit due to all the running he did, but he looked good for his age. Good enough to…

She snapped herself out of it before she finished that particular thought.

Though that blush she tried to repress before threatened to surface when she asked him to help her with her back. But she really did need help. Since both her father and mother had naturally pale skin (though how her father managed to actually get a tan despite living in Ireland she would never know) she was especially pale and burned easily. Usually spending the summers in Ireland helped her, since the summers there were warm enough to wear short legged or sleeved clothes, but the sun rays were not strong enough to actually hurt her skin.

The blush had sprung full force when he started applying the sun screen to her back. The places his hand went over left goose bumps over her skin.

She was pulled out of her stupor when she heard him speak.

"Hey Ria, let's go to the Lazy River after this." She managed to nod and control her voice box to squeak out.

"Sure let's go!" and all but ran towards the river when he finished applying the sun screen.

…. …. …. …. ….

A minute later both of them were on a pair of enormous donut shaped floatation devises.

Seeing Wally completely relax on the floating donut Aria chuckled.

"For a boy who can run and break the sound barrier by running, you sure like to laze around!" she told him smirking, not noticing how his eyes flashed with mischief for a single second.

"Oh yeah, then how bout this? Is this lazing around?" He asked as he placed his hand in the water and then quickly swiped it up, causing an ark of water to hit Aria who squealed as the cool droplets hit her skin.

This sparked a splash war that made park employees go and give them a warning about splashing.

"Sorry, we got carried away." Wally said apologizing to the official. He was smiling while scratching his head.

A strange feeling fluttered in Aria`s stomach at the sight of that smile. For a while now those strange tingles had been happening whenever she saw Wally smile at her or anyone else with that carefree smile. But as much as they were confusing, Wally was her friend and that came first.

Aria was not the only one who thought that.

Going to Ireland was going to be a bit different that year.

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

"You want me to participate in the festival? Why? I didn't have to do that before." Aria asked her Nana. She was truly confused why her grandmother would ask her that.

"You are turning fourteen dear. A big step towards growing up, after the manifestation of the two types of magic from both sides of the family. Not to mention your monthly cycle." Nana spoke the last sentence with a teasing tone, which caused her only granddaughter to blush and exclaim.

"Grandma!" in a high voice.

"Oh come on, you`re my only granddaughter. I have no one else to tease and fluster with telling them about becoming a woman." The elderly lady said, making her granddaughter blush even more.

The old woman chuckled as she placed another pin on the fabric of the dress she gave her granddaughter to wear for the festival.

It was a slim forest green dress with long sleeves that intentionally flared out at the elbow before ending in the middle of the forearm. And the skirt reached a couple of centimeters above the ground, so it wouldn`t get soiled since it wouldn't touch the ground. The neckline also scooped a tiny bit as to not overheat whoever was wearing the dress.

"There, what do ya think?" Nana asked stepping away from the slight makeshift pedestal made out of an upside down medium sized wooden bucked on which Aria stepped on so her Nana wouldn't hurt her back by needing to bend to adjust the dress.

Nana moved away and Aria turned to look at the mirror standing a bit further away. It was a nice dress, but Aria just wanted to go outside. Just as she opened her mouth to answer, her grandmother spoke.

"I haven't made a festive in more than twenty years. After your aunts moved away and your uncle only had sons there was no one 1to make it four. And then one day we get a call from our Shamus, and he tells us we are having a granddaughter." Nana said, tearing up a bit.

Feeling guilty for trying to ditch her grandmother, to whom this meant quite a lot Aria went quiet, before speaking up.

"Can I have a crown of flowers in my hair?" she asked making her Nana chuckle.

"I was thinkin more along the lines of a circlet headpiece." She said making Aria`s head snap in her direction with such speed, the girl could`ve given herself a whiplash.

"Really?" Aria asked, excitement creeping in.

"Aye." Her Nana nodded making the young girls squeal in excitement before pausing.

"But wait, don`t the girls all dressed up have to sit while the boys dressed as knights get to do all the cool stuff like fighting?"Aria asked her grandmother.

"Aye, I'm afraid so." Nana said, giving her a small smile.

"Aw man!" Aria said as she crossed her arms.

"My thoughts exactly." Nana muttered as the door opened and the two of them turned to see the entire McNeil squad, along with Wally enter. Aria couldn`t help but roll her eyes at the sight of wooden swords on every males hip, including her father, uncle and grandfather.

"And I'm guessing you are going to be in the festival as well?" She asks to which all the males singlehandedly nod.

-…. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

To say Wally was confused when the males of the McNeil pulled him aside, just as Nana called Aria was an understatement. All the males were there, her brothers, cousins, father, uncle and even her grandfather Edward was there.

After they explained the situation to him the confusion in his eyes changed into hell bent determination. No way was he going to lose in this.

"So ya see lad, with this bein our little song birds first festival, and the fact that none of us here want any boy asking her for favors. We figured it`d be best if you and her brothers won." Edward finished.

"So, what do I need to know?" Wally asked, the males around smiled with very for bounding smiles.

"Oh, just the basics lad."Edward said as he continued to smile.

"Basics?" Wally asked, gulping and not knowing why he did.

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Well now he knew why. Basics included jousting, sword fight, an obstacle course to pass with and without a horse. And not to forget courtesy on how to act and how to asked the fair maiden for the favor.

What was comforting was that all of the McNeil unmarried males were going to sign up for the tournament as well, so at least he wasn`t alone in this.

After they literally beat the knowledge into him, until he was slightly proficient at most, they told him that training was done for the day and to go and get dinner before resting since he needed to be ready for the next morning when the training resumes.

At first he thought they were joking but seeing the serious expression on their faces he shut up and raced towards the bath, to at least take a shower before getting dinner.

Once his stomach was full he practically fell asleep the moment his body fell on the bed, not bothering to cover up or anything.

This went on for a week, until it was the day before the festival and Wally had just finished sparring against Malcolm when Edward mentioned they ought to surprise the ladies with an ambush.

So they took the wooden swords and started heading back to the house. They had passed a few meters of distance when they heard the sound of hooves galloping against the ground.

Looking in the direction from where the noise came they were stunned to see the very females that they were trying to scare, on horse galloping towards them with what looked like battle paint.

On his right Wally heard an Arrow zoom and turned to see Malcolm with a suction cup arrow stuck to his chest.

"Get`em ladies!" He heard Nana cry out before they were pelted with arrows.

Seeing that they were already defeated Edward told the boys to surrender, making them drop the wooden swords.

The moment the last sword hit the ground the ladies let out a victorious cry.

Getting off from Azure who also was covered in war paint Aria smirked at Wally.

"We got you good, didn't we?" she said to which a second later both preteens began laughing as they continued to clutch their stomachs.

"Y…you should've seen your faces!" Aria gasped out as started rolling on the ground from laughter.

"You should have seen yours!" Wally said pointing to their paint covered cheeks and forehead.

While the two kids laughed, the more older couples just grinned and shared a kiss. Those who were without a girlfriend(generally or theirs wasn`t there) or weren't rolling in laughter just pretended to gag at the sight of their (grand)parents and siblings kissing their sweethearts.

"We got you again this year."Nana told Edward.

"Well, you never did like being called a damsel in distress." Edward said as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

The next day dawned bright and early as the entire McNeil clan and Wally woke up and started preparing for the day.

The night before the food intended for the festival was finished and the clothes were laid out to be put on.

Wally was currently trying to put on the armor required to wear. A sturdy vest made out of tanned leather.

Thunder was already decked out in the garbs a war horse went in from the medieval fairytales about knights Wally and Aria had read once.

Though what stopped Wally in his tracks was Edward McNeil who unlike the red haired preteen was wearing the purple robes of a Lord with a golden mountain lion depicted on the front. A golden crown rested on his head.

"He`s a magnificent stallion, with him you are bound to win. Well almost." With that Edward tossed him a wrapped up bundle of cloth. Looking at the item Wally began to unravel the strings that kept the cloth secure to reveal the hilt of a sword.

Pulling away the rest of the cloth the item was revealed to be a sword. A quite beautifully made sword. The handle was made out of nice leather strips which were wrapped around to give the wielder of the blade a strong yet not bruising grip. The hilt until it reached the blade had a Celtic Knot carved into the metal with obvious artistic skill. And the blade shone as if it were polished only moments ago, not as if it was covered in rags for who knows how long.

Edward motioned for Wally to hand the sword back to him, and masterfully placed the sword in its sheath once the boy did so.

"Follow me." Was what the elderly man said as he got on his own brown and white stallion away towards the forest. Wally quickly mounted Thunder and followed after Arias` grandfather.

They rode deep into the woods for a few minutes until they came to what seemed to be an ancient stones formation. There were three huge boulders the one in the middle stood vertically straight while the other two flanked it on the sides sort of reminding Wally of a throne with the way they were tilted so their slightly pointy ends. All boulders had stringy vines covering their surfaces, the one in the middle most of all.

Edward had walked towards the boulders, his back turned from then and his sword in his hands, the flat of the blade against the palms of his upturned hands.

"Kneel, Wally, son of Rudolph, heir to the house of West."

Doing as he was told Wally knelt, one knee toughing the mossy ground, while the other was still propped up and had the forearm resting on it while his right hand rested over his heart in a fist. His sight was straight ahead.

"Do you swear to protect my granddaughter Aria, daughter of Shamus, only Lady of the McNeil house? The apple of our eyes and the joy of our hearts till the last breath you breathe? Do swear to be anything she needs of you, from protector to friend to partner?"

Wally gulped at the last few words but managed to school his features to reveal nothing.

"I swear by the West name I will keep Lady Aria safe." He spoke as he lowered his head.

Edward smiled as he took his sword by the handle.

"I Edward, Lord of the house McNeil hereby name you Sir Wally of the house of West. Protector of Lady Aria, sole Lady of the house of McNeil. Rise Sir Wally." He said, not before tapping the flat surface of the sword over both of Wally's` shoulders. He smiled at the tiny blue shimmer that transferred itself from the sword to the boy, causing the young lad to have a radiant aura around himself but disappear quickly without the lad noticing.

Wally stood up and snickered as the tension that filled the air disappeared.

"Cool, so guess I`m a pretend knight now huh?" he asked with a smile on his face.

Edwards smile in turn became mischievous, but only looked indulging o Wally.

"Pretend, yes."

Old blue noticed with the corner of their vision noticed a slight blue glow behind the vines on the tallest of the boulders and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Aria bent her head back for her mother could brush her hair. She was already dressed in her dress and wearing dainty flat shoes. Her grandmother had just placed the circlet headpiece on her head.

"You`ll be the prettiest lass there."Nana said making Aria sigh. She hated so much attention, and the fact that she couldn`t fight in the festival. Yet she smiled to appease her grandmother.

"Thanks Nana."

"Now do you remember what to do?" Her Nana asked.

"Sit and watch the competitions, and if someone asks for a favor I give him something mine to signify my agreement."

"And don`t forget the dance at the end of festival, each maiden must choose one knight that has her favor to dance with."

'_Dammit!'_ Aria swore. She had forgotten that.

'Wally you better win! I don't want to dance with someone I don't know!' Her thoughts screamed.

As much as she hated it, she had to admit that being primed once in a while was nice. Her grandmother, mother and aunts had woken her up early in the morning to get a bit to eat before getting her in the room they had turned into a dressing room and started easing her into the dress and adding some lat minute touch ups.

And after what seemed like hours they finished. As she mounted an equally prettied up Azure she saw her brothers and cousins decked out in full knight regalia. But Wally was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't tell me he quit." She shook her head. Wally wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. Would he?

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….. …. …. …. ….

It was official, she hated her best friend. Aria sulked as she sat on an ornate carved chair along the other girls. There were a total of 12 dressed up girls, varying from age fourteen to twenty two. Three guesses for who was the youngest. She had ridden on Azure with Gwen and Scarlet flanking her on either side.

Gwen was riding a palomino mare while Scarlet rode a deep burgundy stallion with a spot shaped birthmark on his forehead.

She was bored. Of the dozens of knights that passed, not one of them had asked her of anything which she supposed was a good thing. The last one had just left after acquiring a favor from a fiery haired and tempered woman with a thick Scottish accent who looked even less thrilled to be here than Aria. The night left after the young woman ha huffed and cursed under her nose, yet hanged a pendant of sorts on his lance. The only thing interesting about that exchange was the strange almost canine looking steed. It`s coat was almost, no exactly pitch black with a trimmed mane but long tail which was styled by using a hair band of sort at the end of the tail and separating it into two pieces to make it resemble the tail fin of a fish. The eyes of the horse were an almost fluorescent green.

To Aria it seemed like the horse scoffed in amusement when the brunette man riding it was asking the red haired woman for a favor. She was about to curse Wally once again when the chatter that surrounded the stalls where people sat stopped for a moment and then began anew exclamations of…

"It`s the Black Knight!" and sort were heard when a person dressed in completely black attire came forth towards the stand where the maidens sat. It wasn't until he is in front of her with his lance pointed her way does she realize what he wants. A favor. Tempted to say no she just opened her mouth to speak the words of rejection she froze. She froze because a familiar pair of emerald green eyes were looking at her through the visor of the helmet. That alone made her cry out of joy, luckily she composed herself. Taking her kerchief with an embroidered rose pattern in one of the corners, she passed it to her supposed knight. Bending down a bit more than necessary, she whispered to him.

"Good luck." He nodded subtly and she sat back with a smile on her face.

…. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. …. ….

Wally groaned. That could have gone better. Needles to say the jousting tournament was a bust. He had gotten pummeled so hard and so much, his bruises had bruises. Even the guy who had asked the Scottish girl for a favor had beaten him. The sword fighting had gone slightly better. At that he wasn't the worst at least. He had beaten a few and since he was the youngest competiting that was a five star compliment.

The final discipline to go now was the riding tournament. He had shed his armor, but kept his black tunic on. Near him was one of the other knights. He was petting his pitch black horse on the snout and whispering encouraging words to the animal. It was funny a little bit since the horse was called 'Toothless' and the strange part was that the horse responded to the name. Wally finished brushing Thunder and asked loud enough for the older knight to hear him.

"So, why Toothless?" the older man turned to him with a confused expression.

"Excuse me?" he spoke with an American accent.

"Why do you call him Toothless?" He asked again. The man smiled.

"When he was born he had a rare condition which caused his teeth to grow after. No one but me wanted to take care of him, and I called hi Toothless as an endearment. Of course soon he started teething and the teeth grew and now he is like any other horse out there. But he still responds to Toothless and it stuck ever since." The man said petting the horses` snout affectionately to which the horse nuzzled back in the petting.

"What about yours? What`s his name?" Wally quickly smiled.

"Thunder. He has a lightning shaped birthmark but I call him thunder." The man chuckled at the explanation.

"How long have you had him?" He asked to which Wally`s eyes softened.

"Since I was eight. He was the newest horse they had gotten and his previous owner had been less than nice, so he had a hard time trusting people. I was the only one who could get him to eat"

"Is he from your ranch?" the man asked again.

"Oh, no I….I don't live here. My best friends' uncle runs the ranch and I just tag along with them every summer. You?" he asked the stranger.

"I live here, don't have the scent since I moved here when I was ten with my parents."

"And the red haired girl?" Wally asked noticing how the stranger asked.

"Merida? She was originally from Scotland , but she moved here as well. My dad's best friends with hers, one day they`re singing drinking songs together and another they argue about what horse is better. Our moms are friends too, they have a blast when they boss their husbands around. Oh sorry, I`m Hiccup. And you are?" Wally blinked as the strangers name registered in his brain.

"Wow, with a name like yours I'm not embarrassed of my own. I`m Wallace West, but I go by Wally." Hiccup smiled at that.

"You think my name is awkward? My dad`s name is Stoick." Wally raised an eyebrow at that.

"Mine`s Rudolph."Hiccup snorted at that."And my middle one as well."

"Okay, you win. You win." Hiccup said, now openly laughing in which Wally joined in. well he tried until an injury on his shoulder which he had gained during the lancing competition lade him wince. Noticing that Hiccup frowned.

"You all right there?" Wally nodded holding his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a bruise from jousting. If you can recall I sucked so bad." He said making Hiccup chuckle.

"Yeah, been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Trust me. But you get better at it with time."

Just then the bell signaling the riding competition was beginning rang. Hiccup got on Toothless as Wally followed on Thunder. Turning toward the younger boy Hiccup spoke.

"Good luck out there. Don`t get nervous. It will make you mistake prone."Wally smiled,

"Luck to you too. And don`t worry riding is one of the things I have confidence in!"

Hiccup smiled at that and rode out to where the obstacle course was. When it was his turn he quickly cracked Toothless` reigns and they took off.

"Whoa." Wally was Awed. Toothless was fast! The horse resembled a blur with the speed he was going at. Thunder was becoming restless and Wally patted his friend on the side of his neck as to calm him down.

"Easy there buddy." That seemed to calm the stallion down, if only a little.

Once he was done hiccup rode out of the field, he passed Wally and sent him a smile, which the red haired boy returned.

Wally waited for his turn and cracked the reigns as soon as the go signal was given. First there were the barrels he had to avoid. He easily led Thunder through those. Next were the low jumps, easy enough but tricky if they were too close to one another. And last were the high umps. Wally did the first three with relative ease, the fourth was only an inch, missing to be knocked off. As they landed and Thunder started to gallop towards the final ramp, Wally bent leaned forward until he was close to the horses` ear and spoke.

"Hey buddy, I don't care if we win or lose, so let's just give it our all. After this you can stuff yourself with carrots and sugar cubes all you want. Now lets show`em what we`ve got!" thunder neighed as he sped up. Faster and faster they went until the final ramp was near and then Thunder leaped. Once they landed Wally turned around to see if the ramp had fallen, but there it stood. A cheery erupted from him causing Thunder to neigh in happiness and rise on his two back hoofs. Going back to where Hiccup as he high fived the older teen.

"Nicely done." He was told.

"You did great as well." He told Hiccup.

"Well, we better go, meet our ladies."Hiccup said. As they were riding towards them they noticed that both Merida and Aria were close to one another, and that the scarlet haired older girl was laughing to something the younger one said.

It wasn't until they were close enough within hearing distance to hear what it was the two girls were talking about.

"And that`s how I convinced him."Aria finished as Merida threw her head back and barked out another laugh.

"You`re not serious!" She said whipping her tears from her eyes, she had laughed too hard.

"I am! I got him to go to dancing classes with me."Aria said making Merida laugh again.

"Heavens above, you are a perfect combination of me and what my mother wants me to be. And how many brother d`ya say you have?" Aria smiled.

"Four. There`s Collin who is nine years older, then Brendon who is seven, Jimmy is next with five and last but not least Duncan who is two and a half years older than me. I am the youngest." Merida whistled, causing Aria to erupt in giggles.

"Well, ah wouldn't know tha. I`ve got three devil triplet brothers. Hamish, Hubert and Haggard. They can get away with murder. I can`t get away with anything." Merida protested.

"Perks of being the younger sibling."Aria grinned at the Scottish teen.

"Aw, fudge!" The red haired girl cursed in mock anger. Aria raised an eyebrow at the mock curse word.

"Hey Ria!" Wally called out, riding Thunder over to them. Aria smiled at him.

"Merida, this is my friend Wally." She said introducing Wally to her.

"And this is Hiccup, my friend."Merida in turn introduced Hiccup.

"Nice to meet you."The brunette teen said, waving his hand in greeting.

"Like wise." Aria smiled at him. "So Merida tells me you like science." She said making Wally snap his head towards the boy he rode with.

"What? Really? You do?" he asked in excitement. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Science bro too?" He asked to which Wally nodded his head so furiously fast.

"So what do you like? Technology, physics or maybe electro machinery?" the red haired boy inquired.

"Well I mostly like mechanics, and chemistry. I partake in welding as well." Hiccup scratched his head. "I used to be interested in black smiting from time to time, now it`s just a hobby." He explained to a star eyed Wally who was looking at him as if he were a god.

Merida and Aria shared a look before the red haired girl rolled her eyes and muttered

"Boys." To which Aria nodded in agreement.

True to the expectation of the girls the boys talked for a few more minutes until it was time for the traditional dance between the maiden and her knight. Wally and Hiccup were next to each other in the knight's line with Merida and Aria across their respective partners. As a cheery and upbeat tune started playing, both lines approached each other for the dance.

Wally had to admit, he was having fun. The cheery melody was further brightening his day. He turned to look at Hiccup and Merida. He wondered if they were having fun. Seeming to share his thoughts both he and Aria turned to see that the two teenagers. Hiccup and Merida were dancing to the tune, Merida was laughing or giggling every time her partner gave her a spin or a twirl. For a tomboy she sure seemed to enjoy was what Aria thought.

Hiccup on the other hand, while not outright laughing, he had a smile on his face and a chuckled escaped his lips every once in a while. In a strange way they suited each other. When the dance ended they pulled apart with small smiled on their faces.

Wally and Aria talked to Hiccup and Merida. Wally commented on how Merida reminded him of Roy, a friend who was with a fiery attitude, red hair and who liked to shoot arrows as well. Aria on the other hand was discussing with Hiccup about animals. When it was time to go, as most of the people had left to go celebrate at home and all the stall were closed to be disassembled in the morning. The two fourteen year olds heard Momoko calling them.

"Wally! Aria! It`s time to go!" the younger pair looked at the older teens.

"Well, see ya!" Wally said as he approached Thunder.

"It was great talking to you."Aria added following after her friend with Azure.

Seeing the younger kids ride out, as the last to leave, the clearing now bare of people. The setting sun signaled the end of the day. As the rich amber rays hit the meadow, a light encircled the two teenagers and horse. Once it faded away it revealed a young man and woman in their late teens and early twenties and a majestic dragon sitting next to them.

The girl had flaming red hair that reached her waist line in wilds curls, her face without a blemish on it. Her ice blue eyes standing out due to the contrast to her crimson locks. She was wearing an emerald dress with leather armor over her chest and forearms with Celtic knot carvings over them.

Slung across her back was a bow and quiver with arrows made out of the fines wood, metal and leather.

The young man next to her had wild spiky brown hair, strands of it pointing in every direction. His left foot was replaced by a metal prostatic. I his left had he had a helmet, with spikes protruding from it. Brown leather and silver metal armor covered his frame with various knobs and pockets. A slight stubble visible on his jaw. His eyes a stunning green color.

The dragon next to them was pitch black with slitted pupil lime green eyes. He was about two and a half meters tall. But the saddle connected to his tail was eye catching.

"They are an interesting couple."Hiccup said looking at the two teens that were riding away next to each other. Aria was laughing at something Wally had just said and he grinned.

"Well soon to be couple." He said as Merida barked out a laugh.

"Yeah, they`ll be interesting."She said once her laughter had subsided. Hiccup smiled as she said that.

"They kind of remind me of our gang" He said prompting Merida to look at him. A smirk broke out on her face, interrupting the moment. She laughed, looking at the black haired girl.

"She is an interesting descendant of mine. I think Goldie would like her"

"Jack would like him as well." Hiccup commented.

"Like who?" A voice asked and the two of them turned around to see a white haired boy with ice blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a blue hoodie with frosty covering the edges and tight brown pants. He wore no shoes. A long wooden staff, slightly curved at the end was in his hand.

"Yeah, who?" a blade girl with impossibly long hair walked up to them. The ground where she walked was lush with grass and flowers.

There they stood. The Big Four. Guardians of fire, water, earth and air. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Bravery, fun, inventivity and adventure.

Merida, in charge of bravery, autumn and fire.

Jack. Fun, brought snow during winter and controlled water.

Hiccup. Inventive, soared through the air sometimes controlling currents to make his flight with Toothless easier and brought in summer thunder storms.

Rapunzel, in charge of the floras` lush that decorated the earth.

"A nice pair of kids. We`ll tell you all about them once we get home." Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless, holding out a hand for Merida. Jack simply took Rapunzel by the hand and flew off leaving Rapunzels hair to trail after them like a golden trail.

"Always the show off." Hiccup said as he patted Toothless as a signal to go.

"Aren`t we all?" Merida told him as they tried to catch up to their friends.


	9. Chapter 9 Omake: Wally in Neverland

AN: Okay ,so my mother got the laptop formatted and so I lost almost ,no all of my works so it took me a lot longer than expected to fill this up because of that and because I'm pretty lazy. So here is a filler chapter kinda like a side story since I need a bit more time to sort through my handwritten notes. That`s right I write all my fanfictions on paper before I transfer them on the laptop, and lucky that I did or I would have no idea what I should write and hold off the story. So here is a tiny ficlet and enjoy!

Chapter 9: Side Story-Pixie Wings

Okay out of every dream he had so far this was the weirdest of all. He had wings, legit fairy wings. They were currently fluttering behind his back in a rapid tact, matching his panicking expression.

"Why do I have wings?!" He yelled out and got up.

Not only did he have wings, but he was also in a place where the flora was gigantic. A flower and its stem were taller than a house. Where the hell was he?!

He tried to find anything familiar in the strange land, but only seemed to get more and more confused.

A sudden noise from his left alerted him and turning around he found a twig that looked sharp enough as a defense weapon.

As the rustling nice got nearer Wally's grip on the stick tightened until the creature leapt out of the tall grass with a ….. whoop?

"Whoo-hoo!" A feminine voice was heard as the giant mouse, jumped and ran around.

When it stilled for a moment the red head saw a familiar face.

"Aria?!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh hey Wally!" she said as she petted the mouse behind the ear making its leg thump.

"What are you doing?!" he asked her in astonishment.

"Having fun." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How do you know where you are?"

"I just fly up to get a better view of where I am." Aria said making Wally stop pacing.

"Fly?"

"Well yeah." Aria said as she was suddenly in the air and Wally saw wings just like his on his best friends back.

"What do you think these are for?" she joked as she landed behind him and gently tugged on his wings, one in each hand. The feel of her fingers on his wings made Wally shiver. It was a very strange feeling.

"Come on lets fly!" Aria said giggling at her joke as she hovered above, her wings fluttering almost like a hummingbirds.

When he didn't move to join her smile that was on her face slipped. Lowering herself to the ground Aria quietly asked.

"Wally, can you fly?" her best friend turning away was answer enough.

"Can you move them?" she asked again, only getting a small nod. Looking closely at the wings she noticed that their shimmer was weaker than hers. Snapping her fingers she fished out a small satchel tied with a string. Opening it the satchel seemed to be full of some kind of golden glittery dust.

"You need dust!" she said as she scooped a generous amount and rubbed her palms together before tracing his wings, covering them in the golden dust.

"There that should do it." She said shaking off the residue dust from her palms.

"Now just remember your desire to run and instead switch it with flying." She told him as she hovered a little above him.

Wally tried, a little unsteadily to follow after her. But soon his genius trait took over and he was flying in circles around her with incredible speed.

"Way to go Wally! Now come on! Step on it!" and with that she zoomed ahead.

"Oh yeah? You wanna race? Let's race!" The redhead shouted as he sped up as well.

And so their race began. Weaving thorough the air and trees and branches they zoomed past .

"Woohoo!" Wally whooped before they seemed to be approaching a rainbow dead on. And he was surprised as they didn't just pass through the spectrum, they shattered it in fine dust.

The two best friends looked at each other then burst out laughing. Covered in fine multicolored dust that shimmered in the light.

"Well don't you look pretty?" Aria joked.

"Why thank you my fair lady." Wally went along with it twirling his wrist a few times as he bowed.

"You look quite fetching as well." he Complimented as Aria let out a giggle.

"Oh stop it you." And made a shooing motion with her hand imitating a blushing dame as Jay would call it.

"Come on let's go!" and they both zoomed off to try and outrace each other.

…. …. …. …. ….

…. …. …. … ….

…. …. …. ….

Wally woke up from his bed his hair tousled and eyes heavy. As the memories from the dream came to his head.

"No more Tinkerbell movies before bed. No matter how much Aria asks.

AN: So I know pathetically short but I am practically writing on blind here and due to a disregarded mistake that shouldn't have been disregarded I now have a full story to alter and combined with final study since I am a senior in highschol. To put it short, I have no time nor drive. So this is the current chapter I will update another as soon as I am possible so don`t lose hope my few fans I have not given up!


	10. Chapter 10 Tokyo and I wanna go

AN: Okay ,so my mother got the laptop formatted and so I lost almost ,no all of my works so it took me a lot longer than expected to fill this up because of that and because I'm pretty lazy. So here the next chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 10: Tokyo and I wanna go

Aria soared through the air. She loved dreams like these, when she realized it was a dream and gained control of it. So she was flying, and it felt amazing. No wonder Superman and wonder Woman did all the time.

She spotted something green from the corner of her vision and turned, only to get the shock of a lifetime when she saw Wally. He was dressed in a dark green T-shirt and pants that ended a little bellow his knees, both articles torn and sown together again. No shoes or hat, but a long red feather between the spiky locks of red hair.

"Wally? What are you doing here? And, why are you dressed as Peter Pan?" And how fitting this was, it vaguely reminded her of the dream she had the first time she slept in her room when her family moved here. But Wally wasn't dressed like Peter Pan then. What was going on?

"I can ask the same thing, Wendy?" Wally said drawing her out of her thoughts.

"What?" was all she managed to utter. Wally smirked and pointed at her and made a motion with his pointer finger as if to signal to her to look down.

And looked down at herself she did, only to yelp in surprise. Where were her puppy pajamas? And why was she wearing a Victorian styled nightgown. Her T-shirt and trousers have been replaced by a light blue garment. A bow was tied at her waist and she too was with no shoes.

"Your hair is styled as well."Wally commented and her hand flew to her ebony locks. Her hair was tied back with a bow, leaving two wisps of hair to frame her face. Looking at his friends` horrified face Wally comforted her.

"It`s not pink." And then gave a laugh at her sigh of relief. Feeling a tiny bit vengeful Aria said.

"I don't see why you are laughing. I`m not the one with a feather in my hair." At that his smile faded and his face paled.

"Oh crud! Where?" he asked feeling around his head, looking for the mentioned feather and trying to pull it out once he found it only to yelp in pain as it seemed to be stuck.

"It`s glued to my head!" Correction, glued.

"What color is it?" he asked, and since she was feeling sympathetic she answered with no teasing.

"Deep red, so chill." She said turning on her back and placing her hands behind her head as they continued to fly, kicking her legs occasionally and mimicking swimming.

After getting the hang of it Wally started to speed up, doing pirouettes, spins and loops as he increased speed more and more. He made them around her and what a contrast they made. She went slow and relaxed, while his pace was faster and more rushed. She almost did nothing while he preformed stunts of all kinds in the air. Aesop would have a field day with this, just like the turtle and the hare. Yet despite their differences both shared the same smile filled with wonder at their flying. After letting out some steam Wally joined her in smooth gliding in the air. They approached nearby clouds and Aria stuck her hand in them to disrupt the mist.

"Flying`s great." Wally simply said.

"Agreed." Was her equally simple reply.

A sudden ringing made them both turn to see where it was coming from. A flock of birds was flying their way, instead of the bird call they sounded like the sound of a bed side alarm beep. The noise was getting louder and louder as the avian animals approached, until it got so loud the two friends had to cover their ears.

When she opened her eyes Aria was back in her room, the screech of the alarm continued. She tried to get up, but her legs were tangled up in the sheets. She looked outside the window, it was late morning and checking her alarm clock only confirmed it which was odd since she almost never slept in.

Going down to the kitchen she noticed that only her mother was in the house. Her brothers and father were nowhere in sight. Momoko was talking to someone on the phone in her native language, Japanese.

"_Shikashi, haha__…hai…hai." _(1) Her mother said, sighing and agreeing with whomever she was talking to. After a few more minutes and a few more words of agreement later. After She hung up Aria spoke.

"Was that Oba-san?" Momoko turned to her daughter and nodded.

"Yes, it was." She confirmed.

"What did you talk about?" Aria asked.

"She wants us to go to the winter reunion. But no one can make it. Your brothers, Collin, Brandon or Jimmy have college or career related work. Duncan is spending his free time helping your father as much as possible at the shop with the client who not only placed a huge order but pushed up the deadline as well. Not to mention there`s that new equipment they have to be here when it arrives. I have that art exhibit I have to attend. I told that to your grandmother and she said you should at least go.

Aria gulped, she`d love to go. He grandparents from her mother's side were fun and so nice. She loved going to Japan. But the problem here was the year. She and Wally were in the final grade before heading to high school in September next year. This was their last winter before high school.

They had just celebrated Wally's birthday on the 11th of November. The three musketeers as Wally, Dick and herself had started referring themselves to had gathered once again in the tree house and had the traditional cake and junk food times three to accommodate Wally`s larger appetite.

They thought of spending Cristmas as grade schoolers together before today.

"When do I leave?"

There was no stopping grandma Shiori. The woman could be sweet as mochi in one minute and giving you a glare to make you regret whatever it was you did. There was no way she could be swayed to Aria missing the reunion, not with the rest of the familly who would not be comming.

But the look on Momoko`s face told her exactly what she feared, she undoubtedly would not be in Central City for Christmas.

"When?" She whispered the question, already weary despite it still being morning. Her mother bit her lip but spoke.

"Day after tommorow." Aria released a breath she didn`t know she was holding. It wheezed past her lips harshly.

Spinning on her heels she ran to her room.

"Where are you going?" her mother asked. Aria paused for a second, gripping the stair bannister as she stood halfway up the stairs.

"To tell my best friend I won`t be there for Christmas." She said continuing on her route.

Getting dressed in a hurry, she left the house headin towards the one across the street. Knocking on the door she came face to face with Mary West.

"Oh Aria! Here to see Wally I take it?" Forcing a smile to her face, as to not worry the woman in front of her.

"Hi . Is Wally home?" Mary smiled at her.

"He is, and please call me Mary dear. I have known you for eight years. There is no need for formalities."

"Of cource Mary." Aria said as she entered the house, heading straight for Wally`s room.

Unless he was at school, dance lessons with her or having some 'bonding time' with his uncle you can bet he spent his free time either with her or his room. And since he wasn`t with her, that left his room. Workning on another project no doubt.

Not even bothering to knock Aria enters, finding him hunched over something on his desk. Having heard the door open he turned around and smiled at his best friend. Some would think Richard Grayson had that spot, but the truth was Aria was his best friend. Dick and he might get allong pretty well, but he knew Aria for more than half of his life. And anyway who says you can`t have two best firends.

"Hey." He said pulling up the goggles he was using to protect his eyes.

"Hey." Aria greeted him, walking up to him to see what he was doing. Seeing the question in her eyes he explained.

"Just trying to make a really cool sci-fi looking lamp. You know a plazma ball like the ones that make your hair stand on end when you touch them." He motioned with his hands as he spoke making her chuckle.

"Do you wanna go for a walk?" She asked.

"Sure." He answered getting up from the chair

They left the house, telling his mother they were going for a walk, and headed towards the park.

As they strolled by one of the many paths, Aria was trying to come up with a way to tell him about how she had to leave for Japan. None came up.

"So do you think there`ll be snow before Christmas?" Wally asked looking at the clouds in the sky, making her cringe at the topic. Just her luck.

"I bet it`s going to be great!" He said with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, i`m sure you`ll have fun." She replied and Wally turned to look at her.

"What do you mean by that? You`re going to be here." He laughed, but after seeing that Aria was looking at the ground instead of answering or laughing with him his laugh faded.

"You`re not gonna be here?!" He nearly shouted as she looked at him in the eyes and nodded.

"I have to go to a family reinion in Tokyo." She said as Wally grew quiet.

"You?" He simply asked after several silent moments.

"Dad has that custom order to finish and Duncan is helping him. Collin is buzy with work, Brandon and Jimmy have college projects to complete while Mom has her art exibit to attend. So Grandma told her to send me to the reunion and was very persuasive in it. I`m sorry if it were up to me I ` wouldnt but i have to go."

...-o\O/o-...

Wally couldn`t belive it. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn`t believe Aria wasn`t going to be there for their last Cristmas as gradeschoolers. She was always there. He remembered how when he was nine years old she had cought a cold and snuck out afterwards with fever and everyhting. Eventually she passed out and had to be carried back and the next day he had also gotten sick, but to this day he had no idea how she managed to get past her brothers to visit him.

He was thrown out of his thought train when his phone rang, looking at the call indicator he saw that Dick was calling. He might as well pick up, if he didn`t Rob wouldn`t stop untill he did.

Pressing the phone to his ear he greeted his friend.

"Hey Rob." Though it wasn`t very enthusiastic.

"Wow. Who killed your dog?" The Boy Woner commented making Wally`s lips twitch in an almost smile.

"Seriously dude, why do you sound so depressed? Usually at this time of the year you are literally bouncing or in your case running on the walls from excitement." Aaand what little mood he had regained from Robs ccomment was gone.

"I found out Aria is not going to be celebrating Christmas, so I guess it`s just you and me this year."

"Actually that`s why I`m calling you. I need to be present on a Wayne Christmas Gala sooo…." The twelve year old didn`t finish as Wally let out an aggravated groan burying his face in his pillow.

"But that's enough about me, so can you tell me why isn`t Aria going to be there?"

"She has to go to a family reunion in Japan. I know it`s tradition but she usually did that after Christmas and New Years and got back during the last few days of winter break. Now she is going even before Christmas and will be staying there until the middle of January. I mean I get it, that`s her family but I`m her friend and it`s kind of our tradition." Wally explained as he stared at the finished plasma lamp he had finished. He heard Rob sigh.

"Okay, I have an idea… but it may slightly contradict the original tradition."

A few minutes later Wally went to speak to his parents.

...-o\O/o-...

Aria spent the last few days packing, she hadn`t spoken to Wally after their walk in the park. She figured she could talk to Wally before leaving. Her flight to Tokyo, Japan was leaving at 7am.

The day of her departure dawned bright and early, she along with her parents loaded the car with the luggage as they went through one last check. But before they left Aria headed for the house next-door.

Knocking she waited for Mary to open only for the house to stay silent. Backing a few steps away she peered into the window of Wally`s room only to see the curtains drawn. A few moments of silence and she sighed before going back to the car where her parents were waiting.

As the car started driving down her mother turned to look at her, having noticed her mood.

"What`s wrong Ari?" Momoko asked as her daughter looked at the passing scenery.

"Wally left his curtains closed so I couldn`t say bye." The answer made Shamus chuckle.

"I figured ye would want to have a conversation with yer friends so I asked him and his parents to meet us at the airport while we wait for your flight." Arias father told her, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"Thanks Dad." She gave him a small smile before continuing to look through the window.

As they arrived at the treminal Aria`s eyes searched for her best friends most distinguishabbe trait...which he had plenty. Anyway, she should at least say goodbye.

Seeing a mop of spiky red hair that she could recgnise everywhere she started walking in that particular direction.

After passing about two dosen people a pair of emerals eyes mer her own crystaline ones and a smile bloomed on her childhoods friends face before he had a handfull of Aria giving him a hug.

Chuckling at her behavior Wally closed his arms returning the hug and asked..

"Hey Ria gues who is going to be sitting next to you on the plane?" And reaching into his pocket he pulled out a plane ticked to Tokyo, Japan.

At Aria`s stupedified expression he started to laugh, hlding his stomach.

"What?! I..I mean.. how? When?" Aria couldn`t even finish the sentense.

"Well it all started abut..."

..._Flashback_...

"_Okay I have an idea...but it may slightly contradict the original tradition." Dick said making Wally perk up with attention._

"_If you can`t bring Aria to the party, bring the party to Aria."At those words Wally grinned. A few moments later he was talking with his parents._

"_You want a plane ticket to Japan as your Christmas present?" Rudolph West asked his son._

"_Yes, since it`s our last year in Middle school." Wally replied nodding._

"_Okay, deal. But you better behave yourself while you`re there."_

_Letting out a whoop, Wally raced off as 'fast' as humanly possible, never seig the amused look his parents shared between eachother as their son ran out to ask the McNeils if this idea was doable._

_Once he got a yes and an English to Japanese dictionairy Curtesy of Momoko. After frantically packing his bags and sorting out everything about the trip he collapsed on his bed, falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow._

..._End flashback_...

"...and that`s how it all was." Wally finished.

Aria looked at the smiles on the two pair of parents and pointed to the.

"You were all in on this?!" What she recieved was nods from all smiling acomplises.

"I cant believe you! Why didn`t you tell me?" She exclaimed, suposedly in an angry manner, but the smile on her face betrayed her true emotion.

Before anyone could offen an explanation a voice was heard over the PA sistem.

"Flight 375 to Tokyo Japan boarding in 20 minutes." And the two young teens hurried to get all their papers in check before they boarded their flight. After going through all the steps they finally stood at the boarding gate. The two best friend gave their parrents onelast hug before entering the plane.

...-o\O/o-...

After going thorugh the routine airport securuty measures the two best friends were boarded on the plane in their seats. A long twelwe hour flight awaitted them. During the first few they were awake Wally had a crash course in Japanese Manerisms.

"And always alternate eating a little bit out of every bowl, instead of eating the entire serving one by one. And dont put soy sauce in the rice it`s considered bad taste. On the other hand you can slurp the noodles , it shows your appreciation of the dish to the one who cooked it. And if you`re eating sushi, the traditional way is eating it with your hands, dipping only the fish side in soy and placing the entire piece in your mouth fish side to tongue so you can taste the sushi as a whole."

"Okay, got it. Bow to your elders, be polite and use san or sama after their name but use their first name a.k.a. their familly name as the ordeer of names in Japan is reversed."

"Correct!"

After the brief lunch, which Wally deemed unsatisfactory compared to both their mothers cooking Aria dozed off leaning her head on her best friends shoulder. Trying not to jostle her out of her sleep Wally reached into the bak pack that was near his feet and pulled out a reasonably sized book.

"How to learn Perfect Japanese in Twelve Easy Steps. Chapter One..." He muttered as he opened the book.

With his incresed thought speed he should be able to quickly learn the book as long as he didn`t show it off outloud.

'Let`s get started.'

A few hours later the flight atendant came upon the sight of two teens asleep, the girl resting her head on the boys shoulder while he leaned his head on hers. Fighting back a coo at the sheer adorableness she quickly turned off the overhead lamp and fished out a blanket to cover them with.

...-o\O/o-...

Wally was awoken by someone gently nudging him. Opening his eyes he saw a flight attendant.

"Sir, we are about to land please tie your seatbelt and awaken your partner so she can tie hers." When he gave a nod and moved to tie his belt the flight attendant moved to help some one else.

"Feels so weird to be called Sir by someone olderthan me." He muttered as he finished with his belt, turning slightly to Aria and shaking her awake before telling her he was tying her belt.

Not long after her heard the pilot speak.

"Ladies and gentleman we are about to land so for those of you who haven`t strapped in your belt please do so."

A few minutes later and the teens felt that plunging feeling in their stomachs sygnifying they had landed the intercom sounded off once more.

"Ladies and gentlemen welcome to Narita Airport, Tokyo Japan." And the seatbelt sign was turned off telling the passengers it was safe to get out of their seats.

Once they got their luggage at baggage claim they waited to see if someone Aria recognized was there.

Looking around for a familiar face, the raven-haired girl finally pointed at a man who was holding a small board with Kanji writing.

黒崎

"There, that says 'Kurosaki' in Kanji." The petite girl grabbed her friend and proceeded to drag him towards the person.

Once the two fourteen-year-olds were standing in front of him, the man's stoic face softened just a tad. A miniscule smile lifted the corner of his lips as he bowed.

"Welcome back to Japan, Naomi-sama." He said once he straightened from his curt bow.

"It I s nice to see you again Shindou-san." Aria spoke back, returning the bow before gesturing towards Wally.

"This is my friend, Wally West. I assume my parents told you that he was coming?"

As the red head bowed Aria introduced the older man.

"Wally, this is our lead house keeper, Takarou Shindou."

The older man who had grey streaks in his hair, slight signs of crow's feet were visible at the corner of his eyes. He was wearing a chauffeur's suit, complete with white gloves and a hat he had tucked in under his arm. He turned and gave a bow to the freckled teen as well.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, I hope you enjoy your stay."

Wally returned his bow, albeit a bit clumsily.

"Um…yes, thank you. It is nice to meet you as well." The elder man only chuckled.

"Let us go. It is a long way to Ishimori." He said taking their bags and leading them out to a black car. Opening the door so they could climb in, he placed the baggage in the trunk of the car before climbing in the driver's seat and starting the car.

"Ishimori?" Wally questioned once they began to drive away from the airport. Aria chuckled before she began to explain.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. Since the family on my mom's side is even bigger than my dad's, the residence is away from Tokyo. It`s a large estate with a small town nearby." She hurriedly finished, making Shindou chuckle.

"We have about a two-hour long drive. Ishimori is in the Izu peninsula of the Shizuoka Prefecture. Ishimori is the name of the small town there."

"Naomi-sama is being very modest. Though when compared to some larger cities Ishimori is not large it is no small town on its own. She also forgets to mention that most of the stores there are influenced by the Kurosaki family."

Wally`s eyes widened at that, once he got a better grip of himself he turned towards his best friends who was holding her stomach as silent tremors of laughter shook her tiny frame.

"So, you`re rich?" He asked to which the raven -haired girl let out a laugh before responding.

"No, my grandparents are rich." Wally accepted that answer with a shrug, before turning back to Aria with another question.

"Why did he call you Naomi? Your first name is Aria."

"They like it better, I guess." His friend simply said.

After the two hours of driving passed, a scenery of forests and fields passing the window. Finally, they seemed to be somewhere near the shore since Wally could see the patch of ocean in the horizon through the trees.

Finally, they showing of civilization started as more and more houses started popping up. In no time at all they were passing throughout the town.

Wally could see the sun shining of the sea water clearly as they passed drove down a street.

"Look Wally it`s the mountains." Aria motioned to her side on the right at there in the not so far off distance were two mountains. Both a rich green with plant life and animals.

As they started to put some distance between the town and them and heading towards the base of the mountain on the left.

Wally`s jaw all but dropped when he saw the sight as they made their way up the mountains.

Both terraced and flat rice fields next to a river. And the sight that made him drop his jaw in surprise was the fact that the rice paddies had the words 'Welcome Home.' Written on them in different colored rice.

Beside him Aria chuckled as she read the inscription.

"They always do things over the top."

Shindou who was waiting for a reaction from the two of the gave a small laugh.

"So, explain to me once again. How big is Ishimori?" Wally asked.

"Well I'm not sure in numbers, but both the mountains are part of Ishimori with the two rivers that converge into one and run between the two mountains. Also, the fields on the other side of the river and the town with the included beach. The river flows between the mountains and into the sea. It also helps irrigate the field, being so near it."

(AN: (sweat drops) I hope this is not confusing for you guys.)

"It's great, isn't it?" Aria added as an afterthought, to which her friends only nodded.

Finally, the car pulled a stop at a huge flight of stairs, at the base of a small hill at the foot of the mountain.

"Your family has asked that you and West-san enter through the main entrance as I drive the car around the hill to the garage. I will make sure your luggage is sent to your rooms."

Nodding Aria and Wally started climbing up the stairs. As they did, they made small talk to make the time fly faster.

"Why don`t you ever go here?" Wally asked.

"I do, for two weeks. Once in summer and once in winter. It`s usually how long winter and summer breaks last here, plus there is the fact that the school year starts in April." Wally groaned at that.

"Tell me about it. I mean, what is with that?" Aria chuckled at his complain.

"They believe that with the beginning of spring the renewal of nature would bring them luck. Everyone here believes that, companies, schools. It`s like their own New Resolution, but it`s either four months late of eight months early." Wally chuckled at her joke.

"Plus, there`s the cherry blossoms." She added.

"They think the students will bloom like the flowers. A very Mulan view I tell ya." Another laugh at a joke.

After a few more minutes of climbing Aria spoke up again.

"By the way, did you know that once a week students have to clean the classroom themselves?" She mentioned. Wally looked at her with wide eyes.

"You`re kidding." He accused in a deadpan voice, only to groan once more when she shook her head in denial.

"I am so glad I don`t study in Japan." He added after several seconds, before muttering.

"Well at least the girls wear cute uniforms." He muttered, making his friends bark out a laugh.

They were almost near the top, a few more steps and a tall wooden gate stood before them.

"Strange, usually the gate is always open." Aria said before grasping the handle and pushing the doors open.

Whatever Wally was expecting, being flocked by kids (and girls) of all ages was the last thing he thought would happen. So, there he stood, slack jawed as the kids exclaimed how strange or pretty his eyes, hair and freckles were, depending on the kids themselves.

"Wow! This onii-chan is different from Naomi-neechan`s brothers!" One young boy shouted.

"His hair is so pretty!" A girl who looked about ten years old exclaimed.

The older girls were less subtle and bolder. They were touching his hair and declaring various thoughts about his features.

"Such color. Even Naomi-chan`s brothers don`t possess that shade!" One who was definitely a young adult asserted. Another was looking straight in his eyes.

"And his eyes are an absolutely breathtaking green color!" She squealed out.

"And those spots from the bridge of his nose to his cheekbones compliment his complexion." A third one stated as she brushed the skin on his left cheek bone.

All Wally could do was keep the goofy grin on his face from being a bit more prominent.

He loved Japan!

Aria rolled her eyes, she knew what he was thinking by the look on his face.

AN: Okay guys. This is the newest chapter. Once again sorry for the delay, please read and review to tell me your thoughts about my fic.

moonlightjasmine


	11. Chapter 11 Tokyo dreams

AN: Hey guys. Look I know I haven't exactly been active and I am sorry, things have been hectic.

Anyway here is a new chapter of Speedster Love, and wow you guys are staring to like this story more and more.

*sniff*

That just makes me so happy.

Mrhrmm….anyway.

On with the story!

* * *

Chapter 11 Tokyo dreams!

Wally was a teenage boy, and like every hormone driven teenage boy he liked girls. And at this very moment every teenage boy's dream was happening to him.

Except for the smaller kids that were there, and that most of those kids were clinging to his feet. And let's not forget about Aria who was standing a little away from him, looking at her best friend with unamused eyes and crossed arms.

"If you don't mind." She spoke, making all the girls and kids quiet down.

"I need to show my friend Wally to his room." At that as if they were scolded the kids and girls stepped away looking sheepishly ashamed. Even the ones older than her.

A chuckle was heard before an elderly woman approached with a smile on her face.

"Nice to see you again, Naomi."

She had a wonderful smile, one who made you feel warm once you saw it. Turning her attention to the boy beside her the elderly woman greeted him.

"And this must be your friend that decided to accompany you. It is a pleasure to meet you West-kun. Thank you for taking care of my granddaughter." She told him in English, as she gave a shallow bow, due to her old age. Wally imitated her, only his bow was much deeper.

"_Thank you for having me in such a short notice. I apologize for the inconvenience._" He spoke in a perfectly fluent Japanese. He polished off his language skills on the plane, after having finished two books and a boatload of audio drills.

Judging by the looks of surprise on Aria, her cousins and grandmother, before an even larger smile broke out on her face before she spoke back to him in her native tongue.

"_You are quite fluent, West-kun."_ At that Wally only chuckled.

"_Not at all I`m afraid. I am only proficient at speaking, while I still am quite a novice in writing and need a lot more work."_

"Well I do hope you enjoy your stay and perhaps coax Aria to visit more often."  
" Have a nice day Baa-chan." Aria said to her grandmother, and started leading Wally inside the huge house. Seeing his awed look she smiled at him.

"I have a big family. So far 3/4 of them live here."

finally they stopped in front of a room where a couple of bunk beds were situated.

" Usually, my brothers sleep in this room. But since they're not here you, get to stay here."

Even though the sun was just setting, both teens let out a yawn due to the time difference of their flights.

"Get some sleep, it's going to be hectic in the morning." She told him, whilst heading to her own room.

* * *

And hectic it was. Wally awoke to clattering sounds and everyone was talking and rushing everywhere. Some carried vases of flowers, some shouted instructions, others are running around and helping everywhere they could. A couple of middle-aged women for him and approached the red-haired teen.  
" Ah West-kun! Would you mind helping out?" He barely had time to process what was being said to him, before a list was thrusted in his hand .He stumbled a bit from the unexpected object, almost dropping it in the process.

" Excellent! This is the list of preparations that need to be finished." Was all Wally was told before they left him alone.

Seeing as no one was near, the teenage speedster had nothing better to do but check the list.

Sweep the Shrine`s sakura grounds.

Stock chairs and tables, six chairs per table.

Hang decorations according to instructions.

Distribute plates, glasses,cutlery and table ornaments.

Place flower decorations.

A photo of how the decorations were supposed to look along with how many of each were needed was found at the bottom of said list. Wally felt his eyes widen at the number displayed on that single piece off paper.

"I have to move how many!?" He shouted to no one in particular, though only one boy, about twelve years of age heard him.

" Looks like Aunt Maka targeted you this year. She usually makes someone do this every year." The kid murmured as he looked at the list in the teens hands.

" Why?" Wally asked, making me twelve year old shrug.

" At first it was because she was lazy, but nowadays it's said she does this because she has a betting pool of how long it would take the person she has assigned and when would they quit."

" Why when?" The speedster questioned again.

" Usually, no one in the last five years had finished that list by themselves. If you ask for help, you lose. So you better start if you want to be quick." The kid finished before leaving, not noticing smirk on the redheads face.

"Oh, I'll be quick alright." He said under his breath, eyeing the list.

* * *

As break time rolled around the Kurosaki clan had sat down to take a breather from the preparations they were thank you. Women started to flock around one person in particular. Kurosaki wanted to know who was unfortunate enough to be given that impossible task to set the tables under the sakura trees.

"So, who is it this time Maka?" Giggled Yuri

"That kid that came with Naomi. Wari I think his name was."She said, mispronouncing his name.  
None of them were none the wiser that they had an extra pair of ears listening to them.

"She gave Wally that task?!"Aria's face was filled with vexation.

" And how long do you think he'll last before quitting?" Ayumi asked.

"What makes you sure he will quit?" A voice came behind them and they turned to see Shiori, Aria`s grandmother standing there, which was stranger than had never taken interest in Maka's game.

"Have You seen her skinny he is question mark I think I might just break my record but how long or in other words short it took them to quit .

Just then they saw Wally was sweating and out of breath. Maka smirked.

" What is it West-kun? Are you tired?Would you like to take a break or have someone up you?" She asked, unable to keep the mocking tone from her voice.

Aria though saw annoyance flicker through his green eyes before he gave her it new most fake smile on the planet.

"No, I actually came to tell you that I finished the chores that were on the list."

Maka`s smug expression morphed into disbelief.  
" What?"She stuttered out.

" I finished the chores." Wally repeated in a slightly slower tempo, the mischievous smile that had taking over his face was completely genuine.

Wanting to see to believe Maka all but ran towards the sakura field, most of clan following her and Shiori and her niece or trailing after, the younger one with a smirk she shared with Wally. Aria`s grandmother had a smile on her face as well, but no-one noticed that little detail.

Once they arrived to the clearing and by then Maka was just standing there gaping like a fish. And it was understandable why. In front of them the tables were set up. Tablecloths, plates, cutlery and glasses. Light strips of fabric were hung between the trees and paper lanterns my placed ready to illuminate the field.

"B….. but how?" Maka stuttered out, not taking her eyes of the setting.

Clapping was heard as Shiori stepped forward.

" Wonderful West-san, your arrangement is quite refreshing. I'm sure this reunion will be one to remember."

Wally beamed at that, and all was right until Shiori spoke again.

"Well, since you finished earlier you have some time to rest before we begin to prepare ourselves for the festival."And with that she turned and walked away.

A second later kids of all ages were crowding Wally and congratulating him.

"Ne, let's have a training evaluation for West-nii-san!" A girl that looked around nine shouted. Cheers of agreements sounded before the kids marched off, from age four to eighteen all going.

They walked to the fields a bit away from the town, town kids joining them.

"You know it's December yet the sakura trees are blossoming?"The confused redhead sounded off as they continued to walk in a certain direction. A girl around ten years of age begin to tell a tale.

"It`s the Legend of Ishimori. Supposedly there was a goddess who fell in love with a man, and since she was Immortal she knew she couldn't be with him so she decided to simply befriend the man and stay as friends. But as time passed, she started to fall more and more in love with him until the thought of not being with him was too painful for her to bear. So one day after confessing her love to him and her true nature, she poured all of her life energy into the land but left just enough to have so she could spend one lifetime with him.

When she confessed to him she said that without his love her life would be aimless. So in honour of their love,the mountains here got the name Ishimori which means 'aimlessness'.For after her confession, when she pulled her divine power into the land her sense of aimlessness went away. The name stuck the village when people populated this area was it named Ishimori to the Heavenly energy the flora and fauna flourished and continue to blossom, even in winter. And as the former goddess passed away, in time changed everything but the name remained." The girl finished.

Wally barely managed to repress a snort at the cheesy fairy tale, instead he asked again.

"And this training evaluation? Not going to get hurt am I?"

Aria looked at him, and the corner of her mouth turned upwards.

"No, they`ll just bruise you. If you're quick enough to escape."She answered, before her female cousins pulled her away. Wally stood there watching in the direction she left until he heard someone speak.

" All right outsider, let's see what you got."

Turning around he saw the ever rare Kurosaki male members. Unlike the situation in Ireland here the male to female ratio was 1 to 2.

In the next hour they tested Wally in speed ( piece of cake), reflexes( easy peasy), agility(are you kidding). Needless to say they were impressed.

"You have proven to be quite worthy of protecting Naomi. We place her in your care."The eldest of the Kurosaki said giving him a short bow.

" Thanks." Wally spoke, returning the bow. Suddenly one of the youngest kids hollered.

" Naomi-nee-chan`s about to sing!"

And as if pandemonium broke out, the boys started running towards another direction.

"Why are we running?" Wally asked, only for the eldest cousin to answer him.

"There are rare occasions and when we get to hear Naomi-chan sing. So we try our here as much as we can." And they had out between bushes of tall grass.

As soon as they did Aria send I love you of the other older girls walked by, followed by the youngest.

"Now the trick to the Kurosaki style is to be gentle, but at the same time you have to be tough." One of the older cousins spoke, placing her palms together then making the right one a fist and hitting it against the open left palm.

" How can you be tough and gentle?"A small girl asked, making the other cousin smile.

" Naomi is usually the best in explaining it."

Aria smiled before squatting down to the girls level and started to sing.

" Earth, sky.

Day, night.

Sound and silence.

Dark and light.

One alone is not enough,

you need both together.

Winter, summer, moon and sun."

She did distanced away from the girls and performed an aerial flip,catching a bo staff.

"Lesson number one."

All the little girls grabbed sticks and lined up before Aria and her cousins began to demonstrate punches and kicks with the staffs.

" Like a rock, ha, ha.

You must be hard, ha, ha.

Like an Oak, mah

You must stand firm."

Making a slicing motion with her staff through the air, she looked at the little girls.

" Cut quick, like my blade.

Think fast, ha ha. Unafraid."

The girls started copying her and the other older cousins, and the elder began to correct the stances or groups of the younger ones. You could see the sheer awe in the younger ones eyes as they began to echo the song.

"Like a rock, ha, ha.

I must be hard, ha, ha.

Like an oak, mah

I must stand firm.

Cut quick, like my blade.

Think fast, ha,ha. Unafraid."

One of the younger girls struck a pose with the bo staff.

"Okay Naomi, I'm ready!"As Aria approached her.

" you're still out of balance."She pushed the girl who was so stiff she toppled over.

"You're only halfway there." She discarded her bo staff and started to flow through a kata.

" Like a cloud, you are soft.

Like bamboo, you bend in the wind.

Creeping slow, you're at peace because you know.

It's okay to be afraid"

Once again like last time, the girls started to copy after the older ones. Some were in meditative positions, some were working through steps all of the kata and others or simply moving gently with a wave like movements.

" Like a cloud, I am soft.

Like bamboo, I bend in the wind.

Creeping slow, I'm at peace because I know.

It's okay to be afraid."

Finally the older girls started jumping in line from one rock to another as they practiced parts of the kata. She sang whilst the girls chimed.

" One, alone is not enough (One, alone is not enough)

We need both together (We need both together)

Winter, Summer, Moon and Sun (Winter, Summer, Moon and Sun)

A girl slipped from the rocks and fell in the water making all girls burst out laughing together.

Lesson Number One"

Here the girls divided into two groups,one practicing the first half being tough with bo staffs whilst the other group was practicing the being gentle half by going through the kata.

"Like a cloud (Like a Rock, huh huh)

You are soft (I must be hard huh huh)

Like bamboo (Like an oak, mah)

You'll bend in the wind (I must be stand firm, huh huh)

Creeping slow (Cut quick (whoosh), like my blade)

You're at peace because you know (Think fast, huh huh)"

All the girls moved forming three circles each going in an opposite direction from the one next to it, with Aria in the middle.

You have began

Finally all the girls began to sing in two voices as the continued with their acrobatic tricks.

Lesson Number One (Lesson Number One)

Lesson Number One (Lesson Number One)

Lesson Number One (Lesson Number One)

And it all finished with the girls posing at the end of the song.

Suddenly a gong was heard which meant they had to get going to the house to get ready. Looking at her tousled raven locks, Aria groaned. Her grandmother was going to chew her out good. As the girls approached the house Shiori watched her granddaughter with an amused expression. The young girl in question had dirt stains on her face and clothes, and her air resembled a bird's nest.

"I`m on time right?" Aria said,only for her grandmother to approach her and pull out a straw stalk from her hair. She opened her mouth and.

"This is what you give me to work with?"

She sang as she circled her grandchild.

"Well, honey, I've seen worse

We're going to turn this sow's ear."

She pushed Aria behind a changing screen and then pushed her in a tub filled with soapy.

"Into a silk purse."

Aria emerged from the water and hivered as the temperature was far from warm.

"It's….freezing!" She held herself whilst shivering.

"It would have been warmer if you were on time." Her cousin Kumiko told her.

"Fo...for what?!" Aria asked, but her grandma continued to sing.

"We'll have you washed and dried."

A floral smelling liquid was poured over her head, as her grandmother massaged it into her scalp.

"Primped and polished till you glow with pride."

Another bucket of water poured over her head.

"Trust my recipe for instant bride."

"A what?!"Aria asked.

"You'll bring honor to us al."

Her two cousins Aiko and Eiko took her after she finished her bath a placed her to sit as they combed and pulled at her hair to style it.

"Wait and see,when we're through"

Aiko sand as she brushed a lock for the hundredth time.

"Boys will gladly go to war for you."

Eiko sang as she affectionately patted her cheek.  
"Why?" Aria asked, but her cousins continued to sing.

"With good fortune."

Aiko, as she placed an ornate comb in Aria's hair.

"And a great hairdo."

Eiko, as she showed a mirror and stroked her hair.

"You'll bring honor to us all."

They sang together as they handed her a mirror to see her hairstyle before they pushed her out of the room in the summer kimono.

"A girl can bring her family, great honor in one way"

She passed by her Grandpa Neji who was frowning at a board game game he was playing against her uncle Kamaji.

"By striking a good match, and this could be the day."

Aria took a game piece and placed it so now Uncle Komaji was losing. Her grandpa smiled at her and patted her hair gently, while murmuring 'good girl'.

Next she was in the dressing room where Aika,Eiko and Shiori helped her into her kimono.

"Men want girls with good taste"

"Why?"Aria asked, yet no one answered.

Calm, obedient, who work fast-paced

With good breeding and a tiny waist

Aria gasped since they tightened the obi making her breath leave her lungs.

You'll bring honor to us all

They continued to sing as her triplet cousins Yuki, Yuri and Yumi took over. They were in charge of her make up.

"When we're through, you can't fail"  
Yuki sang first with Yumi repeating her line after her and Yumi being last.

" Like a lotus blossom, soft and pale"  
Small amounts of powder were padded on her face, just enough to accentuate her ivory skin.

"How could any fellow say "No Sale"

You'll bring honor to us all"  
As the final touch ups were done Eiko spoke up.

"There - you're ready" But her grandmother denied.

"Not yet"

"Beads of jade for beauty

You must proudly show it"  
She sang as she placed a necklace on Aria's neck.

"Now add a cricket just for luck"  
She place a handkerchief with a picture of a cricket in her obi.

"And even you can't blow it"  
That was finished by a tap on the hip by her grandmother and as the others looked at Aria expectantly she sighed before starting to sing.

"Ancestors,hear my plea

Help me not to make a fool of me

And to not uproot my family tree

Keep my father standing tall

She got in line as all around her family members were singing. She thought she spied a familliar head of red hair and sprinted to catch up.

Scarier than the undertaker

We are meeting our matchmaker

Destiny, guard our girls

And our future as it fast unfurls

Please look kindly on these cultured pearls

Each a perfect porcelain doll  
Following after that red hair Aria heard every single familly member young and old sing.

Please bring honor to us

Please bring honor to us

Please bring honor to us

Please bring honor to us

Please bring honor to us all

As she kept walking she couldn't help but wonder why did her family insist to do this every time she visited. Okay it was fun when she was a kid, but come on! She` starting to regret the day she showed the movie Mulan to her cousin back then.

a

* * *

AN:And scene! Whew you will not believe how long that took to write, my fingers are falling off. Well, I know this is a cheesy way to add two Disney songs to a fanfiction and I know what you are going to say, Mulan is Chinese not Japanese but I honestly don't care it is meant as a joke not as an insult so whatever.

See ya next conscience is clear…..for now.

Bye!

moonlightjasmines


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